Twelve Little Duelists
by KonekoTsuki
Summary: Twelve of them arrived on the island, none of them would leave for their consciences were guilty and their pasts tainted. (AR. Rated for death and language. A parody of "And Then There Were NoneTen Little Indians")
1. The Twelve Little Duelists Arrive

Twelve Little Duelists  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any Yu-Gi-Oh characters or related items, they belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I do not own the story "And Then There Were None" (also called "Ten Little Indians"), the story is by the queen of mystery, Agatha Christie.  
  
Summary: Twelve of them were invited to the island by the mysterious Mr. Owen. None of them will ever leave for their consciences were guilty and their pasts tainted. (AR. Rated for character deaths and language.)  
  
Note: The yamis and hikaris are in separate bodies, it helps give the story a fun little twist. Call it a writer's quirk if you will. (On the "Cast of Characters," I will point out who's the hikari and who's the yami, naturally.) Also, I have added two more characters and two more lines of the verse, mostly for the fact that I wished to include a few other characters and extend the fic a bit, plus I like the number twelve.  
  
An IMPORTANT note on Malik's mental state: When the POV is focused on Malik, you'll probably notice that the sentence structure changes. I'm trying to write it with Malik's childish mind set (another writer's quirk). Note that when Malik thinks of "Yami" he is thinking of HIS yami (Marik), not Yugi's yami. He refers to Yugi's dark side as Pharaoh. Remember, Marik thinks along a lot of the same lines as his hikari. I hope you don't get too confused!  
  
"Speech"  
  
---------------------- = Changing character stand point  
  
-------------------------------------------- = change in time or place  
  
Cast of Characters (The info next to their names may seem odd, but it will all be cleared up as each chapter passes):  
  
Yugi Motou (hikari)- Seemingly the most innocent of the bunch, but even the Lights have their dark points.  
  
Yami (yami...duh...)- If one can't fully remember their past are they still responsible for their crimes?  
  
Joey Wheeler-He's reformed now, but what dark secrets lie in this teen's violent past?  
  
Serenity Wheeler-She has constantly beaten herself up for the accidental death of a young child in her care, but was it really accidental?  
  
Mai Valentine-She's lived all her life with lecherous comments from men, so why did she let that one get to her?  
  
Duke Devlin-Some people will go through anything to start their dream business...  
  
Ryou Bakura (hikari)- Although he appears completely harmless, he'll do anything for his family, anything.  
  
Bakura (yami)- He may have a cruel streak, but he is lost without his sweet little hikari.  
  
Tea Gardener- A simple slip-up on her part has darkened her past and brightened her future.  
  
Seto Kaiba-He claims to be on the island for vacation purposes, but why would he carry a gun on a vacation?  
  
Malik Ishtar (hikari)- He may seem relatively harmless and childish, but he's just a few eggs short of a basket case.  
  
Marik Ishtar (yami)- Definitely the basket case, and with quite the murderous past.  
  
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Chapter 1: The Twelve Little Duelists Arrive  
  
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Yugi Motou watched the trees and grassy knolls speed past him outside the coach car window of the Domino Express train. He had just started planning to go on a vacation with his friends when the mysterious letter had appeared on his doorstep. It had been addressed to him clearly enough. But it had been rather vague, saying something of a relaxing sandy beach with rolling blue ocean all around, a large resort set in the center of the small island. What was it called again? Oh, right, Dragon Cove. It sounded nice enough, a perfect spot for a vacation.  
  
Beside Yugi sat his other, his dark side, Yami. The ex-pharoah appeared to be sleeping. Yugi smiled to himself. He was glad Yami was with him. It would make the trip ten times more fun.  
  
----------------------  
  
Yami was in fact, not sleeping. He was going over the peculiar letter in his mind. It appeared innocent enough, but something rang false. Yami did not like what rang false, it put his precious light in danger. And it was his job as a yami to protect Yugi at all cost. But Yugi had insisted upon going.  
  
And what yami can deny their hikari fun and entertainment? He was probably just being paranoid, but Yami was still on his guard. After all, who was this mysterious Mr. Ulick Norman Owen? He didn't recall ever having met someone by that strange name. But Mr. Owen had claimed he was a huge fan of Yugi's dueling skills and wished to reward him with an all-expense paid trip to Dragon Cove. Dragon Cove, what an odd name for an island.  
  
----------------------  
  
Dragon Cove, what a perfect name for an island shaped like a dragon coiled into a crescent shape. Seto Kaiba, on the Domino Express train, stared out the window of his first class seat. He was bored, trains were far too slow for his liking. Yet, Mokuba had insisted Seto take the train. His younger brother had been on Seto's case for months now, trying to get the teen to go on vacation and leave all his stress behind, in Domino City.  
  
Well, the invitation had arrived at the perfect time, so Seto had decided to go. He still didn't like the idea of taking a train though, so primitive. He could easily have gotten to his destination by motorcycle or helicopter, and probably have gotten there sooner! Plus, motorcycles and helicopters were definitely more fun! But Mokuba had said one doesn't take himself to his vacation spot, he should be brought there by another. And that other was the train.  
  
So, Seto was on the train, heading for the small town of Devon, where a boat would take him to Dragon Cove. Still, he couldn't get his suspicious mind off the sender of the letter. Who the hell was Mr. Ulysses Nicholas Owen? The name didn't ring a bell, and Seto had a memory like an elephant. Whoever Mr. Owen was, he said he was an admirer of Seto's amazing company-- of course, use flattery to win him over--and he wished to give Seto a week of rest and relaxation because he was likely under great stress running such a large industry.  
  
Probably trying to get me into investing in his business, Seto thought to himself with a short laugh. Well, as long as he was on vacation he would be away from Yugi and that friend of his, the blonde, idiotic mutt.  
  
----------------------  
  
Joey Wheeler sneezed suddenly, frowning. Why would he have sneezed just then? The coach car wasn't that cold. And besides, Yugi didn't seem at all effected by the temperature. Shrugging to himself, Joey resumed looking out the window. He was in a great mood, he was going on an awesome vacation with his best friends, and it was all free! Plus, that stuck up, rich boy Kaiba wasn't going to be anywhere near them to ruin the trip!  
  
Grinning with joy, Joey reopened the already battered letter from the enigmatic Mr. U. N. Owen. Joey had discovered the letter, complete with train tickets, in his school locker just days ago. It invited the blonde to spend a week at Dragon Cove, with free rooms, games, and best of all, food! He had been about to invite Yugi along with him since he had been given two tickets, but his short friend had proudly announced that he too had been invited to Dragon Cove.  
  
So, naturally, Joey had chosen to take his little sister, Serenity, with him. He looked across at Serenity; her eyes were focused on the green scenery outside, she was smiling to herself.  
  
----------------------  
  
Serenity Wheeler couldn't take her eyes off the beautiful scenes outside. How could anything be so peaceful and breathtaking? She smiled softly, quite sure that Dragon Cove would be even more beautiful. She was so lucky to be going! And with her brother too!  
  
Managing to unglue her eyes from the window, Serenity looked at her close friend seated beside her. Yes, this trip would be fun, her brother, his best friend, and her friend were all going together! She was sure that spending time with Tea and getting to know the girl better would be wonderful. Just then Tea looked up at her, returning the smile warmly.  
  
----------------------  
  
Tea Gardener smiled warmly at Serenity before returning her attention to the letter she had found folded into a perfect little square, tucked away in her dance shoes. It had invited her to Dragon Cove for a party where a large number of scouts from extremely prestigious dance schools would be. She had wondered, at first, why Mrs. Una Nancy Owen had invited Joey and Yugi, but she later found that her pair of top duelist friends had been invited by a MISTER Owen. Apparently the Owens lived in a large house and could easily hold both a party for duelists and dancers in the same house.  
  
At least, that's the solution Tea's mind thought up, she was far too optimistic to be suspicious of seemingly hospitable people. Laughing quietly to herself for even thinking of being suspicious, Tea turned to look past Serenity and out at the long dirt road running parallel to their train.  
  
----------------------  
  
Driving at a steady pace down the dusty road toward Devon, was Mai Valentine. Her golden locks were flowing behind her unhindered by a car roof, she fit perfectly in the sporty blue convertible. Tucked away safely in her violet leather jacket was the letter from a Mrs. Una Nancy something or rather--the signature was very difficult to decipher. It had read:  
  
Dear Miss Valentine:  
  
I do hope you remember me. We met at the WinterBrooke Summer Ball a few years ago. I felt we could become easy friends quickly, we shared so much in common. I have just recently purchased a summer home on Dragon Cove, and I wished for your attendance as my guest, for I am holding a small party. I do hope you will honor my home with your presence.  
  
Sincerely,  
U.N. -------  
  
Although Mai could not recall having ever met anyone named Una, she was sure they had met at met at the Summer Ball. Could it have been a Ms. Oliver? Or was it Otto? She was sure the name was Oliver, but she was so bad with names. But it didn't really matter, she would just greet Una like any old friend. No harm, no foul.  
  
She laughed softly to herself at her pure cunning. With a perfectly manicured hand, she turned the radio volume up a couple notches, startling her passenger out of his nap.  
  
----------------------  
  
Duke Devlin shot Mai at cold glare before resettling himself in the comfortable, white leather passenger seat. Over and over he reread the letter that had been delivered to his game shop days ago. It had been sent by some Mr. Owen, begging his attendance at a prestigious party filled with powerful business men and glamorous girls.  
  
He had not shared this information with Mai, though, he had simply said he needed a ride to Devon, seeing as she was going there as well. He had dropped hints that he had been invited to a grand party, but the girl had ignored him, lost in her own thoughts of the party she was to attend.  
  
He did find it relatively strange that they both had been invited the same day to the same area, the far-off little town of Devon. But as he mulled over these odd facts he was thrown against the car door as Mai swerved the car to avoid a large black SUV as it careened down the road, kicking up a storm of red dust.  
  
----------------------  
  
Bakura laughed coldly as he checked the rearview mirror and saw the prissy little sports car swerve wildly. He definitely enjoyed these modern contraptions, cars were quite amusing. Mortals would scatter in all directions when they saw a large car racing down the street. Yes, it was pure entertainment for the bloodthirsty yami.  
  
Yet, he could not be completely careless while driving this stolen SUV, his little hikari was with him. Mustn't put Hikari in danger. But wasn't going to this idiotic Dragon Cove putting Hikari in danger? Bakura growled inwardly, he didn't like the idea of Ryou going to some party for Egyptian Archeologists, representing his father. And Bakura definitely did not like this Dr. U. N. Owen.  
  
Shifting his cold gaze from the road ahead to his quietly napping hikari, Bakura smirked, baring a single pointed fang. If Dr. Owen wished to put Ryou in harm's way, he had another thing coming.  
  
A loud bang suddenly sounded, startling both Bakura and Ryou. Quickly regaining control of the car, Bakura turned in his seat with a vicious growl, glaring daggers at his two other tagalong passengers.  
  
----------------------  
  
Malik Ishtar grinned innocently as Bakura shot him a cold glare. After all, the sound had only been a small pop from a tiny little confetti popper. Plus, sleepy Ryou needed to wake up, he had been napping all day, no fun. Bakura was no fun either, only Yami was fun. Snickering to himself, Malik began to shred the letter that had been sent to him and his Yami, asking them to come for a party with Egyptian Artifacts on exhibit. Yami had said they should go with the tomb robber, and then all three could steal all the pretty artifacts and make the Pharaoh angry. Yes, making the Pharaoh angry was lots of fun, that's why Yami was so much fun.  
  
Malik didn't care who Mr. U. N. Owen was, probably just some stupid fat man who was no fun, not like Yami. Again, Malik giggled, stuffing the shredded remains of the letter into the already used popper, along with a sprinkle of gunpowder and a lit match. Making sure Bakura was not watching, Malik repopped the confetti toy in Ryou's ear, startling the young boy.  
  
----------------------  
  
Ryou yelped in surprise, he would have jumped out of his seat, but the seatbelt prevented him. Bakura had forced Ryou to buckle the seatbelt before Ryou had even managed to become comfortable in the passenger seat. The pale faced hikari glanced at his overprotective, and yet surprisingly cruel, yami as he berated Malik, attention diverted from the road.  
  
Ryou immediately sought refuge behind his hands. Bakura was quite the unsafe driver, the white haired yami did not have the attention span required to drive. And Malik was not helping with his constant pestering. Marik was even more useless, not even bothering to reprimand or restrain his outrageous hikari. Ryou began to fret about the mayhem the Egyptian pair would cause on Dragon Cove, and he also knew Bakura would be just as bad, swiping anything of remote value without hesitation.  
  
Maybe it was a bad idea to have brought the three along. But Bakura refused to let Ryou go alone. Besides, Malik and Marik had been invited, and even if Bakura had not given--however reluctantly--them a lift, the pair would have found SOME way to get to Dragon Cove, more likely then not, it would have been an illegal method. Then again, their current mode of transportation was a STOLEN car, definitely an illegal method...  
  
Ryou glanced back at Marik, the yami was staring out the window, completely ignoring Malik and his psychotic rambling about rabid pigeons. Ryou sighed, returning his attention to the windshield and scene outside, Marik was definitely an odd one.  
  
----------------------  
  
The tomb robber's hikari is definitely an odd one, Marik thought to himself. Marik did not like the sweet little hikari, he always seemed incapable of the simplest crime. Marik could not imagine Ryou even cursing, let alone causing harm to someone. The tomb robber and his hikari were the definition of yin and yang. None of the other yamis and hikaris were like that. Yugi and the Pharaoh were both idiotic goody two-shoes and best friends. Hikari may have been energetic and naive, but he was like Marik nonetheless.  
  
Marik liked his hikari. So easily manipulated and controlled, well, not controlled. Hikari was far too hyper to be properly controlled, but Marik could still get his hikari to do just about anything, he just needed a little provoking. He could probably get Hikari to do plenty of damage at this party the tomb robber and his dolly light were taking them to.  
  
Yes, indeed, Hikari was always fun to have around.  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
Yugi, Yami, Joey, Serenity and Tea raced as fast as they could to the Devon docks, laden with their luggage. Tea gasped for breath, shooting a glare at Joey, "We're gonna miss the boat to Dragon Cove thanks to you, Joey!"  
  
The blonde grinned apologetically, making sure to keep a few steps ahead of Tea, "Sorry, I didn't know it was running on a schedule." He nearly collided with Yami as the Pharaoh came to an abrupt halt. "Yo! Yami, what's up?"  
  
Yami gestured to the empty dock, "The boat isn't here."  
  
Yugi's shoulders slumped, "We must have missed it."  
  
"Thanks, Joey. I told you we didn't need to stop and look at the gift shop." Tea fumed, stomping around in a tight circle trying to calm her nerves. Serenity patted her shoulder reassuringly.  
  
"The boat will be back soon, dears," an amused voice said from near the group. Looking up, they saw an elderly woman smiling at them. "It just left a few moments ago. The boat's driver said to tell anyone who showed up that he would be returning as soon as he took the first guest to Dragon Cove."  
  
Yugi cocked his head on one side, "First guest?"  
  
The woman nodded, "Yes, and a cute one, I might add. Though a bit distant. Said something about going to Dragon Cove on vacation." She laughed in slight embarrassment, "Well, they waited here a few moments, but the young man became impatient so the boatman said they would go to the island and he would return to get the other guests as soon as he was done."  
  
Tea exhaled a huge sigh of relief, "Thank goodness! I thought we wouldn't get to go."  
  
Yugi exchanged glances with Joey, "I wonder who the other guest was."  
  
The blonde shrugged, "Search me."  
  
"Oh, look! The boat!" Serenity called, pointing to an approaching motor boat not too far off.  
  
Within minutes, the boat was expertly pulled into dock and the group had climbed aboard. The boatman waved merrily, "Hello! Heading to Dragon Cove?" He smiled as each one nodded. "Good, you're on the right boat. So, we'll wait a few minutes, see if any of the other guests arrive. If not I'll bring 'em to the island later." He laughed cheerfully, leaning into the large driver's seat.  
  
Yami frowned slightly, "Other guests?"  
  
The captain nodded, "Yes, sir. There's you five, six more coming, and the one back on the island already. Twelve total."  
  
Joey's eyebrows rose, "I wonder who they all are. Sounds like a lot of people for one little island."  
  
The captain laughed, "It is quite a lot. But the house is plenty big." He glanced toward the road, "Here come some more, I think."  
  
He was right, as they all watched, a sleek blue sports car stopped near the dock and two people climbed out, walking directly toward them.  
  
"Is this the boat to Dragon Cove?" Mai asked as she stepped lightly on the dock.  
  
Joey blinked in surprise at the young girl and her companion, "Mai! Duke! What are you two doin' here!?"  
  
Mai scoffed, "I was invited for a party." She frowned in confusion, "What about you?"  
  
"Same," came the reply from everyone present.  
  
The captain suddenly stood, "Well, we better be going. The others are probably late." He took Mai's bags and helped her climb aboard the reasonably sized motorboat. Once everyone was comfortably seated he started up the engine and pulled away from the dock.  
  
The trip to the island was quick and uneventful. There was nothing but bright blue ocean all around. As the Devon docks shrank away, the small island of Dragon Cove grew. In minutes, they had arrived and were standing on the shore, staring in awe at the magnificent mansion on the top of the cliffs, connected to the house was a peculiar clock tower appearing out of place on the island. Yugi was the one to discover the stone stairway leading up the cliff and to the house.  
  
As the seven climbed the stairs, the motor boat departed, making its way back to Devon and the other guests. It didn't take as long as they expected to reach the house, the cliff really wasn't as tall as it had appeared.  
  
Joey pushed the front doors open, peering inside. Everything was well lit, no dark corners in sight. It was fairly modern, with a classic touch. A large staircase was visible in the entryway, leading to the second floor and the bedrooms.  
  
The seven entered, glancing around for signs of life. "Hello?" Yugi called, hearing his voice echo in the empty house.  
  
But their thoughts of being completely alone were abolished as light footfalls sounded from the stairs as someone descended. Everyone looked up with surprise at Seto Kaiba, glaring down at them with equal shock.  
  
"What the hell are you doing here!?" Seto demanded, halting just four steps from the floor, arms crossed over his chest in his usual haughty manner.  
  
"Damn! Just my luck!" Joey cursed.  
  
Yugi, trying to remain on friendly terms, smiled at Seto, "So, you were invited for the party too?"  
  
Seto arched an eyebrow, "Party? What party? I was invited here for a week's vacation."  
  
"Well, I was invited here for a party with a bunch of fellow dancers, and scouts from dance schools," Tea stated.  
  
"I got a letter inviting me here for a duelist party," Yugi said, blinking in confusion.  
  
"We should ask the owner of the house, or one of the servants, what kind of party is being held," Serenity stated, using her common sense.  
  
Seto smirked, "That won't work."  
  
"And why not, moneybags!?" Joey questioned, glaring up at the blue eyed teen.  
  
Seto rolled his eyes, sighing in frustration, "Because, I've explored this whole place, there isn't another person here. Not a single cook or butler, or even a damned gardener."  
  
Yami frowned, he didn't like this at all, too peculiar for his liking.  
  
"I believe we can explain," a quiet voice said from the front door.  
  
Everyone turned their gaze on Ryou, standing with Bakura just off to one side of him. Malik and Marik stood behind the pair, both wore sinister grins.  
  
Yami growled as he locked eyes with Bakura, "Tomb robber!"  
  
"Pharaoh!" Bakura retorted.  
  
"Malik and Marik!" Malik chirped, gesturing to himself and his yami, "Now we all know each other!" He grinned, bouncing on his heels.  
  
Yugi quickly intervened, stepping in front of Yami and relatively blocking the Pharaoh's view of the thief, "Ryou, how can you explain?"  
  
Ryou blinked for a moment, trying to regain his train of thought. "Oh, well, the captain told us he got a call from Mr. Owen, he said they would not be able to make it until tomorrow, and he also said the three servants he hired fell ill suddenly. He wants to express his apologies for the inconvenience." Shrugging, the small hikari smiled, "That's about it."  
  
"It appears we must fend for ourselves for the day," Seto said, more to himself then anyone in particular. With a quick nod to the others, he began climbing the stairs, "I found the bedrooms up here, choose whatever one you want, just stay out of mine!" When he reached the top of the stairs, he entered the first room on the right, slamming the door behind him.  
  
Malik glanced eagerly at everyone before racing up the stairs. Unable to open the door at the speed he was moving, Malik crashed into the bedroom door, falling to the ground. Marik blinked at his hikari's antics, not at all worried for the boy's safety. Thus proving how well a yami knows his hikari, for Malik was immediately back on his feet, this time taking the time to open the door before running inside.  
  
Ecstatic giggles could be heard inside, where Malik was likely jumping on the beds or climbing furniture. Everyone exchanged glances, climbing the stairs single file--except for the hikaris, with their yamis practically glued to their sides.  
  
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Inside her new room, Tea immediately began to explore. The walls were a soft off-white color, not too bright or dark. The bed was comfortable, but not overly decorate, very simple in style and color. Sighing with pleasure, Tea walked over to the mantle, eyes roving over the simple decorations. A small glass cat, a large marble bear with a clock set in its chest. Above the mantle hung a picture frame with a poem.  
  
Tea blinked, reading the poem:  
  
Twelve little Duelists arrived from Devon; One wished to go home and then there were eleven.  
  
Eleven little Duelists went to Big Ben; One lost his balance and then there were ten.  
  
Ten little Duelists went out to dine; One chokes his little self and then there were nine.  
  
Nine little Duelists sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight.  
  
Eight little Duelists talking of Heaven; One defied it and then there were seven.  
  
Seven little Duelists chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in halves and then there were six.  
  
Six little Duelists playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five.  
  
Five little Duelists were finding life a bore; One played with a gun and then there were four.  
  
Four little Duelists going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three.  
  
Three little Duelists walking in a zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two.  
  
Two little Duelists sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one.  
  
One little Duelist left all alone; He went and hanged himself, and then there were none.  
  
"Whoa, that's a bit morbid," Tea said aloud, "but it's still kind of cute. Twelve little duelists. There's twelve of us here, and we're all duelists." She giggled at the coincidence.  
  
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In all twelve rooms hung the same poem. Each guest read it; laughing, smiling, or smirking at the uncanny similarity.  
  
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At about twelve o'clock everyone felt it was time to eat. They had all ended up in the large living room within minutes of the others. For a while they all simply stood blinking and staring at the others, waiting for someone to go into the kitchen and cook some food.  
  
Tea, grabbing Mai and Serenity's hands, headed to the kitchen, "We'll cook this time! But someone else is doing it at dinner!"  
  
The boys sat in the living. The yamis constantly shooting the others cold warning glares, each remaining protectively at their hikari's side. Except for Marik, he couldn't have remained at Malik's side if he tried. The Egyptian hikari was running in circles claiming to be an airplane. After a few minutes of aerial dog fight reenactments, Malik became bored. It was then that he discovered a cupboard with a large number of pots and pans, it was presumably a storage cupboard.  
  
But, naturally, Malik found it entertaining. He grabbed two pens and began striking each pot and pan. The racket was quickly getting on the nerves of even Yugi and Ryou. The less patient were on the verge of tackling and strangling Malik.  
  
Seto was the first to do something. Jumping off the couch he had been lounged across, he stormed over to Malik, taking the pens away. With a disgruntled huff, Seto turned and headed out the room, Malik's makeshift drumsticks in hand.  
  
Marik snickered, "Bad move, Kaiba."  
  
Seto turned to face the yami, "What?"  
  
"Taking those away from Hikari is," Marik shrugged, "most unwise."  
  
Before Seto could process what the Egyptian had said, he was on the floor, Malik planted on his chest, glaring dangerously at him.  
  
"What the hell!? Get off me, you lunatic!" Seto shouted, trying to unpin his arms from under Malik.  
  
Malik growled viciously, "Gimme!" He held out his hand for the pens.  
  
Seto narrowed his eyes, still struggling in vain to knock Malik off, "You have to release my arms first, idiot!"  
  
The psychotic hikari blinked for a moment before shifting his weight just enough to allow Seto to free his arms. Which was a bad mistake. Before Malik knew what had happened, Seto was on his feet with the pale haired Egyptian in a firm choker hold.  
  
"If you dare do that again, you will sorely regret it!" Seto growled, dangerously close to Malik's ear. He waited another moment before releasing the boy and storming out of the room, pens still held firmly in his grasp.  
  
Malik immediately scampered to his yami, his eyes pleading. Marik smirked, patting Malik's hair as he pulled two pens from his cloak--he had swiped them from Kaiba's room earlier--and handed them over. With a delighted laugh, Malik resumed beating the cookingware.  
  
Fortunately for the rest of the group, Serenity appeared in the doorway announcing that lunch was ready. As they entered the dining room, they found Seto already there.  
  
But he was not eating, he wasn't even seated yet. His attention was focused solely on the small porcelain figurines seated above each plate; rather, his attention was focused on the small glass Blue Eyes White Dragon perched primly above his plate.  
  
Tea was examining a similar Magician of Faith she had found at her seat, and Mai was running her fingers over the intricate feather etchings of the porcelain Harpie's Lady placed at her place.  
  
Malik laughed cheerfully, grabbing one of two detailed Winged Dragon of Ra statuettes. Marik ran his hand over the twin Winged Dragon.  
  
"Who put these here?" Duke asked, lifting the perfect recreation of a Strike Ninja.  
  
Joey shrugged, weighing his own figurine, a Red Eyes Black Dragon.  
  
Yugi lifted the statuette at his seat, a Dark Magician, "Our host must know us well. There's one for each of us, and it's our favorite card too." He pointed to each person and their corresponding figurine, "Yami, you got the Magician of Black Chaos, Ryou has the Change of Heart, Bakura got the Man Eater Bug, and Serenity has Marie the Fallen One." He smiled at the idea of having the Dark Magician as a pocket sized statue.  
  
"Rrrrr!" Malik growled, making his Winged Dragon fly and tackle Seto's Blue Eyes to the table.  
  
"Hey! Leave it alone!" Seto demanded, setting the fallen dragon back to its porcelain taloned feet, keeping his hand protectively on its glass head. He narrowed his eyes, daring Malik to make another pass at his little dragon statuette.  
  
But Malik had become bored with attacking figurines. He had discovered the tray of varying sandwiches and was disassembling them all; remaking them with ingredients that just didn't belong together. After a few minutes of experimenting, Malik sat back proudly admiring the balogna, ketchup, and mayonnaise sandwiches, peanut butter, ham and mustard ones and jelly, roast beef, and egg creations. Grinning, the odd hikari took a large bite from each sandwich.  
  
Duke grimaced, "I'm not hungry anymore..." He turned and left, holding his stomach.  
  
Joey shuddered, "That's just wrong." He immediately followed Duke.  
  
Shaking her head, Mai took the tray from Malik, "You little freak, we worked hard to make those sandwi-" Before she could finish her sentence, Malik had thrown the remains of a peanut butter, chicken and Swiss cheese sandwich in her face.  
  
Tea and Serenity gasped as the disgusting wannabe sandwich slid off Mai's face, her eyes wide with frozen shock. Yugi, Ryou and Yami were caught between surprise and pity, planted to the ground. Seto quickly left the room in an attempt keep from laughing, but a few snickers could still be heard from him as he departed. Bakura and Marik were silently shaking with laughter, Marik giving his hikari an encouraging thumbs up.  
  
A bestial growl came from Mai as she reached for Malik's throat, but the Egyptian was too quick. Before Mai could take a step, Malik was at the dining room door, sticking his tongue out at the irate girl. Mai lunged, Malik dodged, scurrying out of the room.  
  
Mai cursed under her breath, storming off to the bathroom.  
  
"Poor Mai," Tea said, shaking her head sadly, "that was just rotten of Malik."  
  
Marik laughed, "I must reward Hikari. He did well." With another cold chuckle, he departed.  
  
Everyone exchanged glances before going their separate ways. On the table still sat the twelve duel monsters, awaiting their owner's return.  
  
--------------------------------------------  
  
Somehow, all twelve ended up in the living room at the about the same time. Ryou and Yugi were halfway through a simple jigsaw puzzle. Duke was examining the only painting hung in the room, it was of an angel striking down a demon with a glowing white sword. Marik was tossing pens at Malik, who was attempting to catch them in his mouth. Joey was wadding up paper balls and throwing them at Seto, who was seated in a chair attempting to read a book. Tea and Serenity were playing a game of checkers, Mai sat nearby watching the game with minor interest. Bakura was pacing the room like a trapped animal, his cold eyes always locked on Ryou. Yami sat on the couch, his violet eyes following Bakura's every movement with extreme suspicion.  
  
An unfamiliar, hollow voice suddenly spoke with an accusing tone, "Ladies and gentlemen! Your attention please!"  
  
Everyone froze, looking for the source of the sound, yet none had spoken.  
  
(A/N: I do not know what year this anime is based on, so I must be vague. Also, I forgot how old Seto was when Gozaburo died, so I'm estimating that he was about twelve.)  
  
The Voice continued, "You are charged with the following indictments:  
  
Mai Valentine, you brought about the death of Rei Kito on November 23, one year ago.  
  
Yugi Motou, you caused the loss of Toushi Ujio on the 3rd of April, two years past.  
  
Pharaoh Yami, you killed Kenta Mitsuhito on the 7th of January but a year ago.  
  
Tea Gardener, by your hands the death of Miu Kaguya was cause on August 13th, three years ago.  
  
Joey Wheeler, it was you that murdered Taiki Aitsu on June 25th, five years ago.  
  
Serenity Wheeler, it was by your inactivity that young Aina Tura died on the 15th of February, three years past.  
  
Seto Kaiba, you murdered your stepfather Gozaburo Kaiba on the 5th of May, six years ago.  
  
Duke Devlin, it was you that caused the death of Rinto Kogai on the 12th of March, less then a year ago.  
  
Ryou Bakura, because of you that Katsumoto Taka died on December 6th, four years ago.  
  
Tomb Raider Bakura, you killed Jido Ayumi in cold blood on September 28th, two years past.  
  
Malik Ishtar, you took Lilia Hishinzo's life on the day of January 9th, one year past.  
  
Marik Ishtar, you willingly stole Kinai Lobar's life on the 30th of October, less than a year ago.  
  
All of you are accused of these crimes, what do you say in your defense?"  
  
The silence after The Voice came to a halt lasted but a minute.  
  
Seto was the first to respond, jumping to his feet, ignoring the book that clattered to the floor at his feet. Raising his voice to be sure the accuser could here, he said, "I did not kill my stepfather! He committed suicide!"  
  
Duke quickly added in his own defense, "Rinto died by accident! I didn't know that virtual game was faulty!"  
  
Serenity, held by Joey, sobbed, "I tried to save Aina, there was nothing I could do!"  
  
Joey frowned, glaring around, "Who said all that stuff? Who else is here!?"  
  
Bakura, moving stealthily along the wall, yanked open a closet door. He glared down at a simple stereo system set up inside, "What is this contraption?"  
  
Seto quickly moved to see into the closet. He opened the machine, extracting a CD with the label 'Swan Song' on it, "Someone set this to go off at a specific time." He turned to face the rest, "Who was it!?"  
  
Each shook their head in turn, facing another for a possible answer. No one confessed to it.  
  
Ryou, huddled in a corner, slowly raised his hand, "Could someone have set it before we arrived?"  
  
Seto glanced back down at the system, "Yes. It's easy enough to do. And if it wasn't one of us who set it, it was likely how mysterious host." With a quick flick of his wrist, he tossed the CD out the open window. "Now, we need to get to the bottom of this, who is this Ulysses Nicholas Owen?"  
  
Mai shrugged, "I was invited by a Ms. Oliver. At least, I think that was her name. Yea, Una Nancy Oliver. Although it could have been Owen, though I doubt it." She nodded, trying to convince herself more than anyone.  
  
Both Yugi and Joey said at the same time, "I was invited by a Ulick Norman Owen."  
  
Most of the guests confirmed they had been invited by someone, male or female, named Owen.  
  
Seto paced back and forth thoughtfully, ignoring Malik as he imitated the CEO's movements precisely. "Ulick Norman Owen...Ulysses Nicholas Owen...Una Nancy Owen...U. N. Owen," he stopped suddenly, Malik colliding with him. Pushing the Egyptian aside, Seto smirked, "I've got it."  
  
Yami raised an eyebrow, "Got what?"  
  
"If you take the first initials from all our presumable hosts, it's U. N. Then add Owen to the end," Seto crossed his arms, smirking at his pure cleverness, "It's a stretch, but try saying U. N. Owen, UNOwen, quickly." He glanced around at the others, waiting for them to figure it out on their own.  
  
Joey, surprisingly, was the first to solve it, "UNKNOWN!"  
  
========================================  
  
KT: Mu fu fu! Cliffhanger of DOOM!! I would have continued, but this chapter was getting outrageously long. So, what did you think? If you've read the book then you realize I did have to change a few things, just to give the fic an original twist. I'm aware that Malik and Marik do NOT act like that in the anime, but I like to imagine them with a loony streak, it makes for some comic relief.  
  
Seto: Who are you going to kill first?  
  
KT: I can't tell you that! It's cheating! But the sooner I get reviews, the sooner I write the next chapter! 


	2. Rock Stairs And Clock Towers

Twelve Little Duelists

Disclaimer: I don't own any Yu-Gi-Oh characters or related items, they belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I do not own the story "And Then There Were None" (also called "Ten Little Indians"), the story is by the queen of mystery, Agatha Christie.

Summary: Twelve of them were invited to the island by the mysterious Mr. Owen. None of them will ever leave for their consciences were guilty and their pasts tainted. (AR. Rated for character deaths and language.)"Speech"

---------------------- = Changing character stand point

-------------------------------------------- = change in time or place

IMPORTANT NOTE TO ALL READERS: I realize many of you tend to flame authors when they kill off a character. Let me warn you now, this fic is ENTIRELY about murder, and one by one each will get killed, so if you don't wish to read about your favorite character's death, STOP READING NOW. If you choose to continue, you really can't flame me without you being in the wrong, I warned you ahead of time! Thank you, come again.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 1: Rock Stairs and Clock Towers

------------------------------------------------------------------

Joey, surprisingly, was the first to solve it, "UNKNOWN!"

Seto raised an eyebrow in relative surprise, "Well, the mutt does have some brains."

"Shut up, Kaiba!" Joey snapped.

"Make me!" Seto childishly retorted.

Tea jumped to her feet, grateful for the couch that separated Joey and Seto, "Boys! Please! We have to figure out why this Unknown guy brought us here."

"That's simple enough," Yami said, gently patting a shivering Yugi's back, "he brought us here to accuse us of outrageous crimes that I know at least SOME of us did not commit."

"What are you implying?" Seto asked, frowning.

Yami shrugged, "I believe some of us are guilty of murder, but not all of us."

"Let me rephrase my question," Seto said, "WHO are you implying?"

"Well, for one," Yami continued, glancing down at his hikari, "I know Yugi is not guilty. He's never brought harm to anyone intentionally. Nor, I dare say, has Ryou. Naturally, all of us are capable of taking another's life, it is simply a judgment of character I am using to determine the innocent and guilty." He glanced around at the eleven guests, "But I believe we should each plead our own case. I'll start. Kenta Mitsuhito was one of Yugi's classmates, he trespassed on Yugi's soul, so I challenged him to a Shadow Game, Kenta lost, but I did not kill him." He nodded to Bakura to go next.

"Jido Ayumi, yea I killed him," Bakura stated plainly, "he tried to steal Hikari's Millennium Ring." He shrugged, not at all bothered by his past crimes.

Ryou looked down at the floor, talking in a quiet voice, "Katsumoto was in our class, he was killed in a bank robbery, I had nothing to do with it." He shook with the very idea of taking an innocent life.

Tea spoke up next, "Miu, she was a friend of mine, we were in the same dance class. But one day she tripped and fell down the stairs..." She shuddered, "It was horrible."

"My stepfather," Seto started, "jumped out the window of his office. I was there, but I did not kill him. The idiot took his own life." He crossed his arms over his chest, daring anyone to say otherwise.

"Toushi, we dueled once," Yugi said, leaning against Yami for support, "I hadn't heard anything from him after the duel until he called me one night, he was acting weird, and the next morning they found him in his room. He had hanged himself."

"That kid, Taiki," Joey said, talking quietly, "I-I don't even know him. And I definitely didn't kill him!"

Marik smirked, "I killed Lobar. He tried to hurt Hikari, I killed him." He seemed quite proud of the fact.

Mai jumped to her feet, her voice high pitched, "Rei, he was stalking me! Stalking me! I hired a guy to stop him, I-I didn't know that he was going to KILL Rei! It wasn't my fault! I want to go home now!!" With a strangled sob she raced out of the room, the front doors slammed closed as the left the house.

"Maybe we should just stop there," Ryou said, glancing out the window sadly, "we all probably need some time to think. I know I do."

Duke nodded, "He's right. I could use some time to myself as well." He climbed to his feet and left the room, nodding to the others in farewell.

One by one each guest left the living room, going their separate ways.

----------------------

Mai sat on the beach, her eyes not focused on the blue waves as the pounced on the shore and quickly retreated. She ignored the soft, lulling growl of the ocean as it broke upon the cliffs nearby. It was a small island, but so peaceful. Mai didn't like it, it was too peaceful. She couldn't get that cold, accusing Voice out of her head.

'Mai Valentine, you brought about the death of Rei Kito on November 23, one year ago.'

No! No, she didn't! How could she have known that the hired man would kill Rei! She just wanted Rei to stop stalking her, it was frightening. Yet, somehow, she knew the man would kill Rei, and she had still hired him. But it wasn't her fault! That wasn't what she had paid for! She just wanted Rei to stop...and, oh, how he stopped. Now he could never stalk another innocent girl! The job had been highly successful after all...

--------------------------------------------

It was nearly dinner time. Tea had somehow managed to get Yami to prepare dinner, and--with Serenity's aid--she got Seto to help the Pharaoh. It didn't take long for the two to make dinner, it was a simple meal of stir-fry.

As Yugi finished setting the table, he glanced around at the assembled guests. "Where's Mai?"

Malik, attempting to stack the Duel Monster figurines atop each other, shrugged.

"She's likely still outside, I haven't seen her since she left this afternoon," Seto replied, snatching back his Blue Eyes from beneath the pile of statues, smirking when Malik cried in alarm as the 'Duel Monster Tower' toppled over.

Each person took back their respective figure from Malik, it was then that Tea gasped. "Mai's Harpie's Lady is gone! It was here a few minutes ago."

Bakura frowned, "So what? She could have come inside, taken the figurine and left again. Each of us feels fairly attached to ours."

Yami narrowed his eyes at the tomb robber, "Or YOU took it!" He pointed an accusing finger at Bakura.

"I would not steal such a cheap item!" Bakura retorted, "So, bite me, Pharaoh!" He smirked at his clever usage of modern insults. But Malik had taken Bakura seriously. "Ow! You bastard!" Bakura shouted, holding his arm where Malik had sank his teeth into him, "I'm going to kill you!" He whipped out a dagger, pouncing like panther, fangs bared.

Yami and Seto moved quickly, restraining Bakura while Malik scurried behind his yami for safety. Joey disarmed the tomb robber, tossing the dagger on the table. After a few minutes of futile struggling, Bakura finally calmed. He was released cautiously, Yami and Seto stayed relatively close to him just to make sure he didn't take another attempt on Malik's life.

"Dinner's getting cold," Tea said, looking down at the large bowl of stir-fry going unserved, "I'm going to go get Mai, she's probably hungry since she didn't eat lunch."

They waited. They waited for some time, then the horrified scream summoned them to the beach. Seto, Yami and Joey were the first to arrive, they were far faster then the others. Tea stood at the top of the flight of rock stairs, her hand, shaking violently, was pointing at the bottom. Below lay Mai in a crumpled heap, her neck twisted at a sickening angle. Yugi and Serenity were proof it was truly sickening as they raced back to the house. Yami and Joey chased after the pair, they would need comforting.

Duke and Seto were the ones elected to retrieve Mai's broken body--they were the only ones both sane enough and strong enough to do so. It proved no easy task carrying Mai up the long flight of stairs, both boys tripped quite a few times, almost losing themselves over the edge and into the sea each time. But they reached the house nonetheless, they took Mai's body to her room. She was placed on her bed, covered entirely by a bedsheet. The shattered remains of the Harpie's Lady lay forgotten where Mai had breathed her last.

As Duke and Seto descended the stairs, they spoke in low tones to each other.

"I can't believe Mai would kill herself, it just didn't seem like her," Duke said, sighing heavily.

"What makes you think it was suicide?" Seto asked, eyebrow arched in inquiry.

Duke shot Seto a bewildered look, "What are you saying? Murder? You're one crazy, suspicious bastard!"

"Better suspicious on always on guard, then not suspicious and killed off guard," Seto retorted.

"Do you always expect the worse from everyone? No wonder you've got no friends, you expect them to betray you at any minute!" Duke said, his tone both outraged and pitying.

Seto's blue eyes narrowed at the dice gamer, "You think your way, I think my way." As he finished saying that, they entered the living room where the other nine were gathered.

Tea looked up, eyes glassy with tears, "Is Mai really...?"

Duke nodded slowly, "Yes." He looked down at the floor trying to think of some words of comfort but none came.

Malik began dancing in small circles, singing in a high pitched voice, "Dead, dead, dead! Mai is dead! I'll throw more sandwiches at the dead, de-!" Joey, grabbing Malik by his shirt like a kitten, yanked the boy into a chair.

"That's enough!" Joey growled, his tone so dangerously low it even made Seto take a step back.

"Joey! Don't blame Malik, it's not his fault!" Yami said, pulling Joey away from the whimpering hikari.

"Poor Mai," Serenity whispered, but in the silence it was quite audible, "why would she kill herself? She seemed so happy..."

"Kaiba thinks it wasn't suicide!" Duke said aloud, startling everyone. He narrowed his emerald eyes, glaring at Seto, "He thinks it's murder."

All eyes turned on Seto. He was silent a moment before saying, "Have you ever heard of someone committing suicide by falling down stairs? No, because it is not always likely you will die instantly, and that's usually what the suicidal person want. Instant death, or at least one with little pain." He shrugged, "But that is my own opinion, you're free to think what you will." He turned to leave the room, pausing at the door to add one last comment, "It's better to be safe than sorry..." With that he was gone, a slamming door upstairs told them he had shut himself in his room.

Everyone remained silent for sometime after Seto's departure. Each wanted to believe Mai's death was either self inflicted or accidental, yet what Seto had said made sense, however eerie. The foreboding silence was too much for Yugi and Ryou. They both left to their bedrooms, their yamis right behind them. Tea and Serenity were quick to follow, both exhausted from grief.

Joey remained for a little while longer before also retiring. Malik became bored quickly and scampered out of the room. Marik followed his rambunctious hikari, leaving Duke alone in the room.

Finding the room disturbingly quiet, Duke went outside, not at all tired. While looking up at the moon, he caught sight of the odd, tall building connected to the main house. Curiosity getting the better of him, Duke inspected the building, discovering it was a clock tower. He found a small door with a staircase inside, climbing it, he ended up standing on a small balcony at the very top of the tower. It was a breathtaking view, you could see the entire island from up there.

----------------------

As he looked out at the island, Duke became lost in his thoughts. Memories of The Voice from this afternoon flooding his mind. Rinto Kogai, he had been Duke's friend and business partner. But Rinto didn't think opening a game shop across the street from a rivaling one would be a bad idea. He wanted to stop Duke's dream of running his very own game shop. But Duke didn't blame Rinto, he was simply using his business sense. And one day, Duke asked Rinto to try out their new virtual reality game, how was he to know the game had a bug in it? When Rinto began to scream Duke figured it was just part of the game, but Rinto collapsed and stopped breathing.

Duke shuddered, the look on Rinto's dead face was one of great pain. Duke had spent weeks arguing with himself, had he really known there was something wrong with the game? Did he really mean to kill Rinto? Yes, knew the game was faulty, but it wasn't supposed to kill Rinto! It was supposed to mess with the man's mind, make him insane, that was it!

But then again...it hadn't turned out so bad after all...

--------------------------------------------

Yami was awakened by a rapid knocking on his bedroom door. Unlocking and opening the door, he found Seto waiting impatiently outside.

"What do you want, Kaiba?" Yami asked, still drowsy. He noticed the odd expression on the teen's face. Seto looked quite unnerved.

"It's Duke. I found him outside. Dead." Seto said, voice low.

That fully awoke Yami. In a flash the Pharaoh was downstairs and out the door. He had to stop as Seto caught up and led him to the body.

Below the clock tower lay Duke, limbs bent in unnatural angles, back broken over a large rock jutting out of the ground.

Yami stared at the lifeless face of his friend, "Kaiba...why did you wake me of all people?"

Seto paused for a moment as he thought over the question, "I couldn't leave him out here. It's not right. But I also could not carry him myself. The girls, Yugi, Ryou and the nut job wouldn't be of much help. I trust the other yamis as far as I can throw them, and I tried waking the mutt, but he was snoring too loud to hear me knocking."

Yami frowned, "So I was the last resort?"

Seto shrugged, "Basically." He glanced around at the thick fog swirling around the island, "We need to get him out of here. This moisture is only going to cause decompo-"

"Enough! I really do not need to hear about that," Yami said, holding up a hand to silence Seto.

Together they lifted Duke's cold body. Seto nearly dropped Duke when he tried to point out what was beneath the body.

Shattered segments of Duke's Strike Ninja figurine lay in the dirt where Duke had been.

"I noticed Mai's Harpie's Lady by her body yesterday as well," Seto remarked as they entered the house, their burden slowing their progress.

"I'm beginning to believe your suggestion," Yami said as they climbed the stairs, "but if there is someone trying to kill us, where is he?"

"Probably hiding on the island," Seto replied, opening the door to Duke's room. "And if so, we have to find him before he finds us."

Yami, not too surprised at Seto's willingness to hunt down an enemy, lowered his voice, "But, we can't alarm the girls. Or Yugi, he worries too much."

"Then we won't tell them. We can search for the killer and say we're exploring the island," Seto said, "but we'll need someone else, as I said before, better safe than sorry."

Yami nodded, "We can trust Joey to help and keep quiet. He wouldn't want to worry Serenity, but he'd also want to protect her from harm." He heaved a sigh of relief as they lifted Duke onto his bed.

"I suppose the mutt is our best choice. There's no way in hell I'd trust Marik or Bakura, they could easily kill us when our backs our turned, and they'd do it for fun," Seto mused, exiting the room with Yami right behind him. "We need to wake the others now, though, and tell them what happened to Duke. We can say it looked like suicide, so none worry about a possible killer."

Yami blinked, surprised at Seto's mild thoughtfulness for the others, "Yes. You wake everyone on that side of the hall, I'll wake the ones on this side." They spilt up, making their way down the hall, calling out the other guests.

--------------------------------------------

It did not take long for Yami and Seto to get everyone downstairs, where they broke the news of Duke's early death. Tea and Serenity had immediately burst into tears. Yugi looked on the verge of tears. Ryou appeared to be in shock. Joey stared at the floor in disbelief. Marik and Bakura seemed completely oblivious, neither had been on friendly terms with the gamer. Malik would have been singing another of his morbid songs, but Seto had thought ahead and gave the hikari a large hunk of chewy taffy.

Seto waited near the front doors for Yami to return with Joey. When the Pharaoh did show up, Joey had a bewildered look on his face.

"Did you already tell him?" Seto asked Yami impatiently.

Yami nodded, "I did."

Joey shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, "You seriously think someone's killing people?"

Seto sighed, glaring at the blonde, "Did either Duke or Mai seem the type of person to kill themselves?"

Joey paused for a moment, "No...I guess it's worth a shot anyways, even if you are wrong, Kaiba."

"I'm beginning to wonder how many times I must say better safe than sorry..." Seto remarked idly as he stepped quietly out of the house.

The three spent most of the day exploring the island. It was almost entirely bare rock, with small patches of short grass scattered randomly. There wasn't a single hiding place around, not even a small shrub to hid in, let alone a cave. Everything had been searched with a fine tooth comb and nothing had been found.

As they rest near a cliff just before noon, Seto frowned, suddenly climbing to his feet. He walked to the edge of the cliff, trying to see the rockface from the bad angle he was at.

"Dammit," Seto kicked a rock over the edge, watching it hit the water below.

Joey scratched his hair, eyes locked on Seto, "What are you doing?"

Seto gestured to the cliff, "Do you think it's possible for him to have climbed down there? I can't see it well enough to determine if a cave is there or not."

Yami stood up, walking over to where Seto stood, peering down at the ocean below, "I suppose it is possible. But we'd need a rope to get down there and find out. I'm no rock climber."

Seto smirked, pulling back his long trench coat, revealing a coil of rope attached to his belt, "Again, better safe than sorry."

Joey suddenly jumped to his feet, pointing at Seto's belt, "You have a gun!?"

Seto glanced down at the small handgun also hanging on his belt, "Of course I do."

"Why would you take a gun on vacation!?" Yami demanded.

"Do you know how many times someone has tried to kill Mokuba or me? I've lost count, so I carry this," Seto held up the gun, "for protection. Murderers don't take vacations." He laughed to himself, "And yet again I must say better safe than sorry." He traded the gun for the rope, uncoiling it slowly. "So, who's going down there?"

--------------------------------------------

Seto growled irritably to himself as he was lowered down the cliff by Yami and Joey. "How the hell did I get stuck doing this? Damn them." He didn't like the idea of putting his life in the hands of an ancient spirit and a moronic mutt. It was quite unfortunate for him that he was the most experienced at rock climbing, and he was also the weighed the least, despite the fact that he was taller than both of the others.

Luckily, it didn't take him long to search the cliffside. There wasn't even a small niche where a mouse could hide.

Seto gave the rope a quick tug and he was pulled back to solid ground. With an annoyed sigh, Seto untied the rope from his waist, "Nothing, not a single damn hole down there. That was a waste of time."

Yami and Joey quickly responded in unison, "Better safe than sorry!"

Seto glared at the pair, "Shut up."

"Now what do we do?" Joey asked, searching around.

"We search the house, of course," Seto replied, immediately heading to the large manor.

--------------------------------------------

Again, their search was futile. There weren't many hiding spots in the house. The few possible ones were completely empty as well.

As the inspection came to a close, a bell rang, signaling lunch was ready. When Yami, Joey and Seto entered the dining room the rest were already seated and eating. Except for Marik, he was entertaining Malik by setting napkins aflame with a small silver lighter--he stole it from Joey earlier.

Marik finally lifted the spoon from his bowl of stew--everyone else was already halfway through their meal. Smirking hungrily, Marik stuffed the spoon in his mouth. A few seconds passed and he began to cough. Before anyone to get to their feet to help the yami, he collapsed. His hand knocking his Winged Dragon of Ra to the floor, where it broke into three large pieces.

Bakura was the first at the fallen Egyptian's side. The tomb robber slowly climbed to his feet after checking for Marik's pulse, "He's dead."

Ryou gasped, "Did he choke?"

Bakura shook his head, "No. By the looks of it, he was poisoned."

"But I served the stew out of one pot!" Tea cried, jumping to her feet and pushing her bowl away.

Yami frowned, "It can't have been in the pot, because everyone has been eating for some time now. Marik died the instant he swallowed the one spoonful. Someone put something in HIS bowl."

"One of us is the killer..." Seto whispered. Joey and Yami nodded in agreement as six pairs of eyes turned to stare at Seto.

=========================================

KT: (Sighs sadly) I hate killing the cute bishies. Poor Duke...

Seto: At least it wasn't me...

KT: True, I still have my beloved muse! (Huggles Seto)

Seto: -.-() It's better then getting killed.

KT: Please don't flame, nice readers! This is a murder mystery fic after all! Characters are supposed to die!

Seto: Who's the killer? Maybe I can get him before he gets me.

KT: Hey, you can't rule out the girls. And I'm not telling you who the killer is! It's for the ending!


	3. Venomous Suspicion

Twelve Little Duelists

Disclaimer: I don't own any Yu-Gi-Oh characters or related items, they belong to Kazuki Takahashi. I do not own the story "And Then There Were None" (also called "Ten Little Indians"), the story is by the queen of mystery, Agatha Christie.

Summary: Twelve of them were invited to the island by the mysterious Mr. Owen. None of them will ever leave for their consciences were guilty and their pasts tainted. (AR. Rated for character deaths and language.)

"Speech"

---------------------- = Changing character stand point

-------------------------------------------- = change in time or place

IMPORTANT NOTE TO ALL READERS: I realize many of you do tend to flame authors when they kill off a character. Let me warn you now, this fic is ENTIRELY about murder, and one by one each will get killed, so if you don't wish to read about character death, STOP READING NOW. If you choose to continue, you really can't flame me without you being in the wrong, I warned you ahead of time! Thank you, come again.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3: Venomous Suspicion

------------------------------------------------------------------

"One of us is the killer..." Seto whispered. Joey and Yami nodded in agreement as six pairs of eyes turned to stare at Seto.

"W-what?" Ryou stared in pure fright at Seto, "O-one of us?"

Seto nodded, "Yes. All of you agreed that Duke and Mai weren't the kind of people to kill themselves. Then Marik dies of poison that could have been slipped into his food by someone in the dining room at the time. The house was already searched through, and there isn't anyone here but the twelve who arrived, nine now. And on top of things, when each person died, their corresponding figurine has been broken as well. You can't tell me that isn't suspicious."

Everyone took a few moments to absorb the large amount of information. Bakura quickly moved to stand in front of Ryou, his cold eyes locked on Seto, "You seem to have put things together perfectly. If someone poisoned Marik, who's to say it wasn't you!?"

Seto shrugged nonchalantly, "Who's to say it wasn't me? Everyone here passed by that bowl at one point or another. Any of us could have done it."

"Where were you when Mai was killed? And Duke?" Bakura demanded of the CEO, now his prime suspect.

Joey, surprisingly, jumped to Seto's defense, "When Mai died, no one knew where ANYONE was! We all left the living room to be alone, remember? And when Duke was killed, everyone was in their rooms, supposedly. Right now, every one of us is a suspect. The only innocent ones are the ones who have died already."

"Twelve little Duelists arrived from Devon; One wished to go home and then there were eleven. Eleven little Duelists went to Big Ben; One lost his balance and then there were ten. Ten little Duelists went out to dine; One chokes his little self and then there were nine," Serenity quoted from the poem, her eyes filled with fear.

Bakura scoffed, "What does that have to do with anything?"

Serenity shook her head, "Don't you see? The poem matches how each person died. Mai wanted to go home, and she died. Duke was up on the clock tower, Big Ben is a clock, and he fell. Then we all sat down to eat, we thought Marik choked at first, but it was poison!" She shivered slightly, "The killer is making sure to follow the poem, that's why there were twelve duelists in the beginning. He's going to come after each of us, one by one!" She gasped, burying her face in Joey's shirt.

The room was filled with silence, broken only by Serenity's muffled sobs and Malik's confused whimpers as he tried to wake up Marik.

"W-what do we do now...?" Yugi whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.

"We wait for the boat to come," Tea said, suddenly smiling, "Yea, remember, our host was supposed to come today!"

"It's not coming," Seto remarked idly, leaning back in his chair, "for two reasons. One, I would bet my life that the killer, posing as U. N. Owen, told the boat captain not to come out here. Probably spread some rumor that it's a survival contest and distress signals are to be ignored. Heh, survival contest, isn't that the truth?" He began to chuckle softly to himself.

Yami frowned at the CEO, "What's reason two?"

Seto stopped, sitting up and blinking as if he couldn't remember where he was, "Huh? Reason two...? Oh," he waved his hand toward the window, "the weather."

Outside, dark gray clouds filled the sky, flashes of lightning could be seen accompanied with the low, menacing growl of thunder. Spatterings of rain were also visible, falling on an already turbulent ocean.

"In a few hours, that storm will hit here and Devon, no sane boater would attempt to come out here," Seto said as he climbed to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Yugi asked, an anxious look in his eyes.

"To my room, I need some rest," Seto replied as he pushed open the door.

"But, it's not safe to go anywhere alone, isn't it?" Serenity questioned.

Seto glanced back at the eight, smirking, "You're all in here, one of you would have to follow me to kill me, and I doubt the killer wants to give himself away." With a short laugh he left, his light footsteps could be heard going up the stairs.

"I'm betting the killer is him," Bakura muttered, arms crossed over his chest as he glared at the door, "He's too calm when faced with death."

Yugi blinked, shaking his head, "No, Kaiba may not be the nicest guy in the world, but I just don't think he'd kill someone. It would put him in danger of being separated from Mokuba, and he's always done everything in his power to stay with his brother."

----------------------

In his room, Seto was attempting to call Mokuba, but his powerful, high-tech cellphone was unsuccessful. With an angry growl, Seto tried contacting the Devon police, yet the signal would not go through.

"Damn storm!" Seto cursed, throwing the silver phone against the wall, smirking at the satisfying crunch of plastic. He opened his suitcase in the habit of getting his laptop, but it wasn't there. Seto cursed again, "Why did Mokuba make me leave it?" He grimaced at the memories of Mokuba's reprimanding tone when Seto had tried to pack the laptop.

'Seto, you can't bring your work with you on vacation! You won't relax at all! It stays here.'

I knew Mokuba's ever reasonable agruments were going to be the end of me, Seto thought.

He shot an angry glare at the pile of broken plastic that had once been his cellphone. Stupid thing...

----------------------

"Stupid thing!" Tea yelled, tossing her pink cellphone on the ground, where Malik promptly snatched it.

"What's wrong, Tea?" Yugi asked.

Tea sighed, slumping onto the living room couch, "My cellphone won't get a signal, it's gotta be this storm, because I just bought that thing, it's supposed to be really high-tech and stuff."

"Great, just great," Yami muttered, staring out the window, watching the storm progress rapidly. The glass panes were already wet with rain drops.

Ryou walked up the the window, giving Yami a small smile, "The clouds are so dark, it's impossible to tell how late it is."

Yami nodded, "It could be anytime, that's what is frightening about a storm, people lose complete touch with time and it tends to make them crazy." He glanced at Malik, seated in a corner laughing hysterically at absolutely nothing, "So does the loss of your other."

Ryou looked down at his feet, "True. However cruel Bakura may be, I'd be lost without him. I need him as much as he needs me." He turned his soft gaze to his yami, curled up on a chair like a cat. Bakura scowled, shifting uncomfortably under his hikari's innocent look.

Malik suddenly growled viciously, drawing the attention of the pale hikari and the Pharaoh. Tea was trying to wrestle her cellphone out of the yami-less Egyptian's hands and Malik was fighting it stupendously.

"Give it back! That phone belongs to me!" Tea shouted, her normal demeanor shattered along with her nerves.

Malik hissed in response, hugging the phone to his chest, "Mine! It's my yami now!"

Tea sighed, her face suddenly pitying, "All right, keep it." Malik giggled happily, scurrying out of the room. "It's not like I have any use for it now!" Tea called after the boy.

Joey looked up, hit with a sudden idea, "Hey! I bet Kaiba's got a cellphone that's really powerful! We can call the Devon Police with it!"

"Won't work," Seto said, entering the room, his hair was tossled from sleep, "I already tried. Storm's causing too much interference. Plus, I threw the moronic contraption at the wall when it refused to work, it's in about a million pieces now." A chorus of sighs echoed through the room as their last hope was dashed upon the rocks--or wall, for this matter.

Seto yawned, still partially asleep, as he sat down in a chair beside Serenity. The girl smiled a welcome before tilting her head in confusion, staring at the teen with surprise, "I didn't know you wore glasses. They look good on you."

Seto blinked at the pair of thin framed silver glasses that rested on his nose, "Oh, yea. I don't have the greatest eyesight in the world. I usually wear contacts, but I didn't feel like putting them in when I woke up, so I put my glasses on." He took them off, wiping a lense with his shirt, "I'm half-blind without them."

Joey laughed, "I knew you were a nerd!"

Seto frowned at the blonde, "In case you were unaware of this fact, seven out of ten people wear glasses and the percentage rises each year." He glanced around, "And seeing as he have eight people here, it's only natural someone had glasses."

Joey paused, trying to think of a good comeback, but none came to mind. Seto smirked victoriously.

Giggling at Joey's baffled expression, Serenity stood up, leaving the room. Tea looked worriedly after her, "Shouldn't someone go with her? Malik's not exactly in his right mind, he could hurt her or something."

Before anyone could move though, Serenity returned, Malik clinging to her hand like a lost child. In his mouth was a purple popsicle and balanced on his head was Tea's pink cellphone.

Smiling, Serenity led Malik to a chair where he promptly climbed onto it, turned three circles and went to sleep. Serenity took the popsicle from the boy's mouth, laughing. "He's like a little kid, he just wants attention. That's why he acts like he does," she explained, looking up at the seven others staring in surprise at her.

Yugi sighed unhappily, "I feel sorry for him, he doesn't have a yami to protect him anymore. What's he going to do?"

Seto looked at the normally cheerful boy with a surprised expression. "He still has his brother and sister," he stated matter-of-factly.

"He's right, Aibou," Yami said, moving to sit beside Yugi. He glanced at the large clock on the wall, "It's already midnight?"

A sudden beeping was heard. Seto frowned, "That sounds like my watch, but I haven't been able to find it since I got here..." He looked in the direction of the sound, growling when his eyes fell on Bakura. "Thief! Return that watch to me at once!" He lunged for the tomb robber, missing him by a hair.

Bakura smirked, waving the stolen watch in Seto's face, pulling it away each time Seto took a swipe for it. "Finders, keepers, Kaiba."

"It doesn't count as finding if you dig through my suitcase for it!" Seto retorted, yanking the rug Bakura stood on from under his feet; sending the yami tumbling backwards. He laughed triumphantly as he retrieved the dropped watch. "You lose, thief."

Ryou hurried to help Bakura to his feet. Bakura growled angrily at his innocent light, knocking him away. "I don't need your help!" He glared at the startled boy before stomping out of the room.

Joey laughed nervously, "Man, that guy's tail is in a knot." He held out a hand for Ryou to climb to his feet. "Why do you put up with him, Ryou?"

Ryou shrugged, "He's not so bad, he just has trouble showing any emotions...well, any emotion other than anger. He's afraid of being hurt if he put his trust in someone. But, I'd be lost without him, he's like my anchor on sanity, as I am to him."

Joey sighed, shaking his head, "Sometimes I just don't get you lights and darks. It's like you're two different people, but also the same person."

"That's exactly what it is, Joey," Yugi said, smiling at Yami.

"Okay, but it gives me a headache just thinking about it," Joey replied, scratching his blonde locks, "I'm going to bed, it's been a long day." He headed for the door, pausing and turning to look back at the others with a sheepish grin, "None of you happen to have some sleeping pills, do you? I doubt I'll be able to get to sleep on my own tonight, too much has happened."

"I do," Seto offered, getting odd looks from the others, "I've been having trouble sleeping lately, if you must know." He walked past Joey, speaking to him but not looking at him, "Follow me, mutt."

Joey was about to make a retort, but thought better of it; it's unwise to insult someone who was about to give you medication, however harmless. With a sigh, the blonde followed Seto upstairs.

----------------------

Joey lay awake in his bed that night, completely frustrated. Seto had given him four sleeping pills and they hadn't kicked in yet. His mind began to wonder back to the day The Voice had accused him of killing Taiki. Had it been two days ago, or just one? It seemed like so long ago.

And the day Taiki died felt like another lifetime. Joey had been heading down the wrong road in life and becoming part of a gang was inevitable. The gang definitely liked Joey, thought he had potential, but initiation was still needed.

Why did the initiation have to be to beat up an innocent little kid? It wasn't right, the kid hadn't done anything to him. Poor Taiki, he stood absolutely no chance against Joey's merciless fists. Joey had stopped after a few weak blows, but Taiki had been dazed. Taiki tried to run home to his mother for comfort, but there was blood in his eyes, he hadn't seen the car coming until it was too late.

Joey shook his head violently trying to destroy the images in his mind. No matter how you looked at it, Taiki wouldn't have died at such a young age if it hadn't been for Joey.

A soft knock came at the bedroom door, startling Joey from his thoughts. His visitor entered without a word, leaving two small pills on the bedside table.

Joey nodded in thanks, "Those better get me to sleep faster than the other ones." His visitor laughed quietly before leaving the room, pulling the door closed.

Without a second thought, Joey swallowed the pills and took a long drink from his glass of water. His eyelids felt heavy immediately. With a content sigh, the blonde fell back on his pillow.

--------------------------------------------

Seto was awoken the next morning by a rough shaking from someone. Slowly opening his eyes, Seto winced as he felt a massive headache already coming on. Cursing under his breath for being such a fool and taking so many sleeping pills, Seto sat up and put on his glasses, glaring at his intruder.

"What do you want?" Seto demanded of Yami. It was then that he noticed Yugi, Ryou, and Bakura in the room. Malik was also present, occupying his time with searching through Seto's suitcase.

"Kaiba," Yami's tone was filled with a mix of anger and sadness, "what was in those pills you gave Joey!?"

Seto blinked, gesturing to the bottle on his beside table, "Read the ingredients. Nothing dangerous." He winced, holding his head, "unless you take too many, then you get a murderous headache like I have."

"H-how many pills did you give Joey?" Yugi asked, eyes brimming with tears.

It took a moment for Seto to recall his hazy memories from last night, "Four."

"And how many did you take last night?" Bakura growled.

"Six," Seto replied shortly, "what the hell is this, the Inquisition?"

No reply.

Malik suddenly giggled, "The puppy won't wake up. The puppy won't breathe. The puppy is no more!" He dodged the brutal kick from Yami with catlike agility, still laughing his head off.

"He's dead?" Seto demanded, completely caught offguard. Then it hit him, they suspected HIM! "Hold it! If you think I gave him extra pills so he would overdose, you're insane! Four pills is harmless, I took six myself!" He quickly climbed out of bed, feeling his height would aid in defending his name. "I may not have been on good terms with Wheeler, but I wouldn't kill him! If I killed everyone I didn't see eye to eye with, this would be a pretty empty world!"

Yami held up his hands, silencing Seto, "We're not accusing you. We wanted to find if potassium cyanide was in the pills."

"Potassium cyanide!? That's lethal in the smallest doses!" Seto immediately snatched the bottle, reading over the ingredients. "There isn't any kind of cyanide or potassium in these." He paused, "Why?"

Bakura volunteered that information, "I've seen plenty of death by poisoning in my past, and I am sure that what killed Marik also killed Wheeler, and it had the markings of potassium cyanide."

Yugi sniffed, wiping tears out of his eyes, "Please stop talking about it..." He held the halves of Joey's Red Eyes Black Dragon to his chest.

"Aibou..." Yami immediately moved to comfort his light, escorting the boy out of the room.

"Nine little Duelists stayed up very late; One over slept himself and then there were eight!" Malik chirped happily, giggling as he fiddled with the remains of Seto's cellphone.

"That's enough out of you," Bakura growled, dragging Malik out of the room by his shirt collar. Ryou quickly followed, glancing nervously back at Seto as he closed the door.

Sighing with frustration, Seto strode to the mirror hanging on the wall. He stood glaring at his reflection, "Hello, prime suspect number one..."

================================================

End of Chapter 3

Eight guests remaining

KT: (Cries) I can't believe I killed Joey! I love that mutt!

Seto: Why did you have to put the blame on me!?

KT: (Grins) Because, it's fun.

Seto: ...

KT: Eh, heh...Readers, please review if you wanna find out who the next victim is! And let's see if we have some detectives out there, who do you think the killer is? Who's next to go? Cookies to the one who figures it out!


	4. Angelic Demise

Twelve Little Duelists

Disclaimer: Koneko Tsuki don't own it, but she can dream!

"Speech"

---------------------- Changing character stand point

-------------------------------------------- Change in time or place

Warning: Character death...muahaha, gotta love the morbidness of it all! So, no flaming! They burnses usssss! Oh, there's also some rude language a la Bakura.

Useless Note: Aren't you glad I didn't put little Mokuba in this fic? I was tempted because I knew I could get some cute brotherly moments in, but I really can't torment Mokuba like I can Seto (He's tough, he can handle it...) So yea, that's why one of my favorite characters is not in this story, although my sister made a point that Mokuba as the killer would have given the story one seriously twisted ending.

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Chapter 4: Angelic Demise

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In the living room, Yugi sat huddled on the couch still crying for his best friend's death. Yami sat beside the boy, doing his best to comfort his distraught light.

Tea was seated on a chair, a large white pillow hugged to her chest, her faced was buried in its soft fluff, the only sign she was crying was the gentle shaking of her shoulders.

Bakura, in an attempt to keep his light from becoming dismayed or frantic, was playing a game of Monopoly with Ryou. Bakura shot constant suspicious glares at everyone present, his gaze softening considerably when his eyes fell on his hikari.

Serenity sat in a chair staring out the rain-coated window at the turbulent ocean below. There weren't any tears in her eyes, she was still in shock at her brother's death, she refused to believe he was gone.

Seto, somehow ending up as Malik's babysitter, was constantly entering the room searching for his charge, leaving again either because he couldn't find Malik or the cold glares from the others was making him uncomfortable.

No one said it outright--except for Bakura--but they all suspected Seto above anyone else. And just because the CEO had never gotten along with Joey. But they all seemed to forget the other deaths, okay, yes, Seto despised Marik, but he never had anything against Mai, she was a skilled duelist. And Duke? Sure, Seto had been angry with him the night he was pushed off the clock tower, but they weren't enemies, Seto respected the young man's excellent business and tendency to never back down.

Ryou, smiling slightly as he won the third round of Monopoly with his dark--he was unaware that Bakura had let him win--looked up as Malik raced into the room, skidding to a halt. Something small and silver was clutched in his hand.

"Looky what I found!" The yami-less boy proudly held up a slender dagger with a finely made hilt and blade. Bakura immediately recognized the weapon as one of his own, from his room, under his pillow to be precise--obviously Marik's hikari was a clever little picklock.

"Malik! No!" Yami jumped to his feet, but before he could reach the hikari, the dagger was gone.

Malik, a pouty expression on his face, glared up at Seto. The CEO gave the boy a cold 'I'll tolerate none of this crap' look as he held the knife out of Malik's reach. "You idiot! Do you realize how easily you could kill yourself or someone else with this!?"

Malik blinked, tilting his head to one side, pale blonde hair falling into soft lavender eyes, "Kill someone? Like you did the doggy?"

Seto's eyes flashed dangerously as he grabbed the front of Malik's shirt, the dagger just centimeters from the boy's throat, "You better watch what you say...or you'll be able to rightfully accuse me of murder!" He dropped Malik, sighing in frustration.

Yami, not wanting any sort of trouble or more bloodshed, took a cautious step toward Seto, "Kaiba," he held his hands out in a gesture to prove he was unarmed, "why don't you give me that knife?"

The CEO looked down at the dagger, "This?" He held it up into the light, idly examining it, "Why? So I can put myself at your mercy, you may act sane, Yami, but I'm not stupid. All the darks are as crazy as the Egyptian brat!" He shook his head, messing up his usually perfect chocolate hair, "There's no way in hell I'm handing this over so one of you can kill me with it!"

Yami was about to protest this unjust accusation, pausing as he realized they had done the same to Kaiba, he had every right in the world to suspect anyone else. Taking a calming breath, Yami looked up at the tall blue-eyed teen, "All right, I see your point. Why don't we do this? Let's put any weapons somewhere safe, where no one can be harmed?" He searched the eyes of everyone present, no one seemed to protest the idea of improving their safety.

--------------------------------------------

"No! I will not give you my daggers!" Bakura howled, a good number of daggers held in his arms as if they were precious pets. "You have no right!"

Yami and Seto, being the only ones who could possibly match Bakura's strength, stared at the thief with calm expressions. No matter how strong either of them were, they didn't stand a chance against a swift tomb raider, catching Bakura was like trying to catch a shadow, plus the white-haired yami was armed to the teeth with his many daggers. Everyone was relying on Bakura's number one weakness, his hikari.

Ryou, chocolate brown eyes wide and innocent, stepped toward his yami, "Please, Bakura. If we don't lock up the daggers, someone may get a hold of one of them and hurt me with it...do you want that?"

Bakura stared down at his sweet little hikari, cold dark brown eyes softening slightly before becoming cold again, "No! No one would be able to get one of these! They wouldn't be able to get past me!"

"Didn't Malik get a hold of one of them? And he probably thought it was just a game," Yami remarked, violet eyes narrowed at the thief, "but whoever the murderer is, it's no game to them. If they were determined enough, they could easily get one of those daggers."

The white-haired thief opened his mouth in a retort but paused, he had no argument left. With reluctance, Bakura grudgingly dumped the armful of knives into the thick black safe box Serenity and Tea had found in the kitchen.

Tea sighed with relief, "That's all the weapons. Even the kitchen knives are in there."

Yami's eyes grew wide as he was hit with a sudden memory, "Wait! That's not ALL the weapons!" Every eye turned to look at the Pharaoh--everyone except Seto, he had turned away from the porcupine-haired duelist.

"What other weapons are there?" Serenity asked, chestnut eyes showing no sign of light.

Yami pointed an accusing finger at Seto, "Kaiba has a gun!" All eyes, narrowed with suspicion or wide with shock, shifted from Yami to Seto.

The CEO scowled, not enjoying having all the attention on him, "Yea, I have a gun! Is it that big a deal!?"

"Yes! Considering one of us is the murderer, I'd say it's a pretty big deal!" Tea snapped, azure eyes glinting menacingly. The expression on her face was definitely intimidating and not a natural one for a girl so young and carefree.

Seto, brushing a strand of hair out of his eyes, sighed, "Fine! I'll get the damn gun!" He turned to leave the room.

"Hold it!" Bakura growled, icy brown eyes locked on the CEO's back, "you can't go alone."

Yugi nodded, misinterpreting Bakura's words as being thoughtful rather than suspicious, "That's right, it's not safe."

Seto seemed to consider this for a moment, "That's true...that little psycho is running around somewhere, I'd rather not run into him alone. Especially since he knows how to get into locked rooms." He turned back to face the others, "So, who's coming with me?"

Ryou and Yugi both raised their hands, speaking in unison, "I will!"

A short laugh came from Seto, "Yea right, you two couldn't fight off a fluffy rabbit, let alone a killer!"

Bakura and Yami shot Kaiba warning glares. "Do NOT insult, Hikari!" both darks growled, exchanging glances with each other.

Seto sighed in frustration, muttering something under his breath. "This is just great, the one's that might actually be of some use to me are crazy, bloodthirsty or both, and the ones I might consider trustworthy are weaklings...I'm surrounded by incompetents."

"Why don't we all go, together? Then there won't be any problems," Serenity said, her voice hollow, completely lacking of any emotion.

"That seems logical enough," Yami remarked, receiving nods from everyone, "so, we all go together. Lead the way, Kaiba."

--------------------------------------------

In Seto's room, everyone stood in a semicircle around the tall CEO as he rummaged through his belongings mumbling curses under his breath.

"What's taking so long, Kaiba? Forgotten where you hid the murder weapon for your next victim?" Bakura drawled, a humorless smirk on his face, the sharp point of one of his fangs visible.

"Shut up!" Seto snapped, throwing his suitcase on the ground, "I had it in here. now it's gone!" His bright blue eyes darted around his room in search of any possible hiding place for the small pistol.

Ryou, eyes wide with fear, clapped his hands over his eyes, "What if...what if Malik got it?"

"Oh, no!" Tea--standing beside Ryou--gasped, both hands over her mouth, "What if he's the killer!?"

"Who's the killer!?" Malik chirped, suddenly appearing between Tea and Ryou with his hands over his ears. He grinned at Tea and Ryou, "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil!"

"You idiot!" Seto shouted, lunging and grabbing Malik by the front of his shirt, "What did you do with my gun?"

"Don't hurt him!" Yugi, half expecting Seto to shake Malik, tried to pull the CEO and Egyptian apart. He was surprised at how gentle Seto's grip was on Malik's shirt--no matter how big the CEO talked, he couldn't bring harm to someone younger than him, especially when they were someone's younger brother.

Malik, giggling like a schoolgirl on narcotics, moved to sit cat-like on Seto's bed. "Dunno where the pretty silver toy is. I came to play with it, but it was gone and the White One was leaving."

Yugi tilted his head to one side, baffled, "The 'White One'? Who's that?" He looked around at his friends, trying to figure out who could possibly be called such a peculiar name.

Bakura scoffed, "He probably means Kaiba, because he's wearing a white trench coat." He fixed dark brown eyes on the CEO's flawless, custom-made coat, his thief's mind automatically summing up its worth.

"He could mean your hair color," Seto quickly retorted, turning back to face Malik. But the Yami-less boy was gone; slipped out of the room like a shadow. "Damn him! Damn him to Hell..."

"To Hell? We're in Hell," a soft voice spoke up. All eyes turned on Serenity, her normally bright eyes a brown so dark it could have been called black. She smiled a humorless smile, "How can one believe in Heaven when things like this happen? What did Mai ever do to anyone? Or Duke?" She paused, taking a shuddering breath, "Or Joey?"

Silence reigned in the room, no one had seemed to noticed that of all people to feel sorrow, Serenity had been the most hurt by the deaths. Mai was like a big sister to her, Duke was always complimenting her and trying to win her love, and Joey, of course, was her beloved older brother. Most definitely she had been hit the hardest by the recent murders, yet no one had taken that into consideration.

But also, no one had thought of how Marik's death had affected his already loony hikari, perhaps the Egyptian's antics could be excused as his way of cooping with the loss of his other half.

"S-Serenity..." Tea began, "you can't give up hope, you still have your friends-" She was cut off by a sharp glare from the chocolate haired girl.

"I don't need any of your speeches, Tea!" Serenity shouted, facing Tea with an expression on the verge of being completely hateful, "They may have helped people out of hard times before, but they didn't save Mai, Duke or my big brother! And they aren't going to help me now! So just shut it!!" With a disgruntled huff, Serenity raced out the door, hands over her face as she burst into tears.

Tea stood rooted to the ground, completely speechless for once in her life. Yugi gently patted Tea's arm in a friendly, reassuring manner.

A stifled laugh came from Bakura along with the muffled words, "Someone's PMSing..."

"Tea, don't take what Serenity said to heart," Yami advised, locking his red-violet eyes with Tea's crystal blues, "she is confused, frightened and grief-stricken, she cannot be held accountable for her actions."

"Like Hell she can't!" Bakura yelled, his hair standing up more than usual, "Everyone, even Malik, must be held accountable for his or her actions! If not, the murderers going to get off Scot fucking free and I won't have that! Not when my Hikari is at risk!!"

"Speaking of risks," Yami began, "we should be looking for that missing gun, and Malik."

Ryou nodded, "We should, it's not safe to let it go unfound. Someone could get hurt, even by accident." He looked at the five others, "Should we split up? We could go in three groups of two or two groups of three. Going alone is not wise, I suppose."

"That's a good idea, Ryou," Yami said, giving the pale hikari a small smile, "Yugi, Tea and I will search upstairs, Ryou, Bakura and Kaib-"

"That's not happening!" Seto interrupted, "There's no way I'm going with the insane tomb raider, he could kill me the second my back is turned, and the albino would do nothing to stop him!"

Yami sighed in frustration, Kaiba seemed to enjoy destroying other's plans as quickly as possible. "Fine. Kaiba, Yugi and I will-"

"But I can't trust Bakura!" Tea said, shooting a worried glance at the white-haired thief.

Bakura's eyebrow twitched irritably, "Glad to know I'm trusted around here..."

"It's not like you've tried to earn any trust, thief," Kaiba retorted, he was feeling slightly smug at the fact that the others had more faith in him than Bakura.

"Why the fuck would I want anyone's trust?" Bakura snapped, fangs bared.

"Enough of this incessant bickering!" Yami demanded, his eyes nearly slits as he glared at the tomb raider and CEO. "Now, Ryou, Bakura, Yugi and I will go together. Tea and Kaiba, you two find Malik, Serenity and the gun downstairs, while we search upstairs." The dismissive tone in his voice left no room for protest.

The two groups split up in the hall.

----------------------

Serenity sat behind a large armchair in the living room. Occasionally she heard Malik, Seto or Tea enter the room and leave again. She was purposely hidden from sight, she wished t be alone with her thoughts and this seemed the only convenient place.

Aina Tura, a sweet little girl Serenity babysat all the time. Aina always referred to Serenity as her big sister; the two had so much fun together. Serenity could recall the day Aina had died. They were at the beach, Aina wanted to go swimming, but the five year old just couldn't swim, she didn't have the strength to keep herself above water.

But if Aina had one trait, she was a persistent little child. After nearly an hour of begging, Serenity finally allowed the girl to play in the shallow waters. Serenity remained watchful for a good while until a handsome young lifeguard standing nearby distracted her. The pair had hit it off immediately, both sharing similar tastes.

Neither had taken notice of Aina wading farther and farther out to sea, eager to get a close look of the slumbering sea lion bathing on a large sunny rock.

And then the frightened scream came. Aina had alarmed the sea lion. The large brown beast slipped into the water, swimming large circles around the girl, herding her into deeper water where it had more room to move and examine its harasser.

Serenity had raced to the water's edge, ready to save Aina, but the lifeguard stopped her. He warned her that sea lions could be dangerous when provoked. He then dived in, swimming for the girl now a good ways off shore. The sea lion, bored with his investigation, had returned to the rock. By the time the lifeguard had reached Aina, she has blue from lack of oxygen, her small heart stopped for all eternity.

The police had decided the girl's death was a complete accident, even a trained lifeguard had been unable to save her from an angry sea lion. But Serenity knew the truth, if she hadn't insisted on flirting with the cute lifeguard, Aina would be alive and well right now. It had been her fault, no matter how much Tea, Mai and Ryou had tried to tell her otherwise, Aina's death had been Serenity's fault.

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Yugi, Yami, Ryou and Bakura searched each and every room meticulously, yet there was no sign of the gun. Tea, a look of fright on her face, appeared in the doorway. She was breathing heavily.

"You guys! We found Malik," she began, trying to catch her breath, "he had gotten a hold of one of the kitchen knives, so Kaiba tried to disarm him and got hurt-"

"He's not..." Yugi interrupted, eyes wide with shock.

Tea shook her head, brown locks falling in her face, "No, it's just a bad cut. Anyway, Malik ran outside and he's still got the knife! He was singing something about a shiny water gun. I think he has the gun!"

"Then what are we waiting for? We have to go after him!" Yami shouted, racing past Tea, Bakura hot on his heels.

As the five got downstairs, they found Seto leaning against the wall near the front door. Blood was visible through his the sleeve of his shirt from wounds in his right arm.

"Kaiba, are you all right?" Yugi asked, moving to the CEO's side.

Seto glared at Yugi, "I'm fine, but if you get that little Egyptian freak near me, he won't be fine!"

Yami nodded, "We're going after him." He quickly left the house, Bakura and Tea following close behind.

"Yugi, I think I'll stay here," Ryou said in his whispery voice, "I'm not half bad as a doctor when it comes to cuts." He smiled slightly, glancing at Seto.

"All right, I'll go with the others," Yugi replied, hurrying out of the house to catch up with his dark and the others.

"Okay, Kaiba, you and I both know that shirt sleeves aren't proper bandages," Ryou began, hands on his hips, "I'm going to get the first aid kit, you stay here." Without a further word or waiting for a response from Seto, the normally timid hikari left.

--------------------------------------------

Outside, Yami and Bakura--having somehow getting separated from Tea and Yugi--had managed to corner Malik in the tool shed. The violet-eyed boy had a bloody knife in one hand and what appeared to be a small gun in the other.

"Malik, just drop the weapons," Yami said slowly, hands held out in a unarmed gestured.

Malik shook his head, "No, they're mine, I found them." He grinned, continuing in a singsong voice, "Finders keepers, losers weepers!"

"You little bastard! Hand over those weapons this instant or I'll send you to the Shadow Realm!" Bakura growled, advancing on Malik.

"Nuh uh, my yami won't let you! He'll protect me!" Malik chirped, sticking his tongue out at the white-haired thief.

Bakura spat, a sneer on his face, "Idiot! Your yami is-"

"That's enough, Bakura!" Tea said, suddenly appearing and standing in front of the yami, preventing him from reaching Malik. With a small smile, she turned to face the armed hikari, "Okay, Malik, wanna make a trade?"

Malik's eyes narrowed, suspicious of Tea's actions, "For what?"

"These." Tea held up her pink cellphone and a candy bar.

Malik grinned, immediately stepping toward Tea, hands outstretched.

Tea pulled the candy and phone out of Malik's reach, waving a warning finger, "Nuh uh, you gotta give me the knife and gun first. Then you can have these."

"Okay!" The hikari didn't hesitate to hand over his weapons to the girl. With a content sigh he hugged his two new prizes close to his chest.

"Wow, Tea," Yugi breathed, catching up to the four in time to watch the negotiations, "that was really awesome."

Tea laughed, waving a finger at Yugi and winking, "Like Serenity said, he's like a kid, and kids are easy to deal with if you got the stuff they want."

"Tea...where's the gun?" Yami asked, looking at the two items in Tea's hand. One was the knife, made obvious by Kaiba's blood on its blade, the other was a water gun spray-painted silver.

Tea blinked, inspecting the items, "I guess Malik was telling the truth when he sang about a shiny water gun..." She laughed nervously. "We'll just have to keep looking in the house then."

A muttered curse could be heard from Bakura, who had hoped to get in a small catnap before it was time to eat since he had gotten no sleep the night before.

As the five entered the house, they found Seto in the same spot as before, Ryou beside him. The albino boy was just finishing wrapping a bandage around Seto's arm, tying the knot securely. Seto climbed to his feet with a sigh, examining the tightly--but not too tightly--wrapped tourniquet with admiration.

"What happened to you, Seto?" Malik asked, head tilted to one side as he gnawed on a lollipop.

"What the Hell did you call me?" Seto demanded, icy blue eyes fixed on the nutcase.

"Seto," Malik repeated, "it's your name isn't it?"

Seto visibly twitched as he attempted to keep his temper in check, "No one, absolutely no one, calls me by my first name except my little brother..."

Malik grinned, completely oblivious to Seto's increasing anger, "Then I'll be your little brother too! So now I can call you Seto!" He giggled cheerfully, clapping his hands together.

"That's not funny!" Seto yelled, lunging at the Egyptian. With a chuckle, Malik stepped out of Seto's reach before racing into the living room. With a growl, the CEO was right behind him. He nearly crashed into Malik as the boy froze in his tracks.

Seto followed Malik's wide-eyed gaze, his cerulean eyes widening in shock, "Oh, shit..."

"What is it, Kaiba?" Yami asked, standing on his toes to peer over the tall youth's shoulder. "Oh, Ra!" He stepped back, making sure to keep Yugi behind him.

Bakura, not bothering to be polite, pushed past Kaiba and Malik. Tea followed right behind him. With a scream she fell to the floor, her eyes growing to the size of dinner plates at the sight, "Serenity!"

Serenity was in the living room, her body pinned against the large painting of an angel by two long knives. There was blood everywhere, not yet dried. The young girl had not been dead long by the looks of it. The shattered remains of the small Marie the Fallen One lay on the floor in a crimson pool of its owner's blood.

End of chapter 4

Seven Guests Remaining

KT: That's the end of chapter 4! Who do you think Unknown is? Don't rule out anyone unless they've already been killed and make some guesses, little detectives!

Seto: How...how could you do that to Serenity!?

KT: Aww, you mad 'cause I killed the girl you had a crush on?

Seto: Sh-shut up!

KT: Isn't Seto-chan cute when he's flustered, readers?


	5. On The Ax Edge

Twelve Little Duelists

* * *

Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own it

* * *

Warning: Heh, heh, more character death! Fear the abused power of the authoress!

* * *

_Note: _A reviewer has begged me not to harm Yami in a few reviews…well, sorry to say this…I have to! Everyone dies eventually in this fic! Even my beloved Seto (poor Mokuba!) Gomen Nasai, but that's the downside of reading murder fics.

* * *

Chapter 5: On the Ax Edge

* * *

"Serenity!" Tea sobbed, hands over her face. She shook violently as she attempted to control her grief. Her only comfort came from Yami.

The ex-Pharaoh held Tea in a warm hug, doing his best to quiet the girl. His crimson eyes narrowed at his prime suspects for the most recent killing—Seto and Bakura. "Which one of you did this?"

Neither responded, both were well aware that trying to argue with the accusation was pointless.

"It…it couldn't have been Kaiba…" Tea whispered, in the silence her soft voice sounded unusually ragged.

All eyes turned to the only remaining girl.

"And what, pray tell, have I done to excuse myself of this crime?" Seto asked, his voice carrying the slightest hint of relief. As of late, he seemed to constantly be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Tea smiled ever so slightly, "You are as likely to kill Serenity as you are to kill Mokuba."

"What?" Bakura growled, not comprehending.

Tea rolled her eyes, staring in exasperation at the tomb raider. "Isn't it obvious? Kaiba _liked_ Serenity!"

Silence reigned. None was expecting that bit of news and it required some digesting before it registered.

"How would you know, Gardener?" Seto demanded, a small blush coloring his face.

"Oh, come on! No one else noticed that since Kaiba saw Serenity, he eased up on the Dog jokes to Joey?" Tea asked, completely bewildered. "I certainly noticed. It stood out like a clown at a funeral!"

"So that just excuses Kaiba!" Bakura hissed in outrage, his chocolate eyes narrowed. "Because he had an eye for the blonde's little sister, he's no longer a suspect?"

Yami shook his head, "No, everyone must remain a suspect until we find this Unknown. Just because Kaiba happened to like Serenity doesn't change a thing."

Malik grinned childishly and began singing, "Seto and Serenity sitting in a tree-" His song cut off by Seto's hand over his mouth.

"That's enough from you, Malik." Seto ordered, his voice low and stern.

Malik, still unable to speak, nodded and gave Seto a thumb's up. Seto removed his hand from the Egyptain's mouth and was promptly glomped by the boy.

Tea's hands shook as she faced the group, her back to the gruesome sight inside the sitting room. No more tears ran down her face, firmly and bravely set. "I know this whole thing has been horrible, but we can't let it get us down. Friends need to stick-"

"I'm out of here," Seto muttered, turning away from the brown haired girl, "There has to be some chore that needs being down, and it's better than listening to your damned friendship speeches."

"You can't go alone!" Yugi piped in, he glanced back at his nervous yami with a reassuring nod before looking up at Seto. "I'll help."

Seto mumbled something under his breath that sound strangely like, "Great, a midget and a psycho as 'bodyguards', lucky me…" and shrugged nonchalantly, trudging off with Yugi and Malik attempting to keep up.

After the three had departed, Tea looked over the remaining people. "Kaiba's right, we should just do some chores. It'll take our mind of the horrible events."

As Tea and Yami departed in search of things needing a proper cleaning, Bakura chuckled darkly. "Who do you think will be the next to go?" The question was obviously addressed to Ryou, though the yami appeared to ask no one in particular.

Ryou stared at his dark with startled, terrified brown eyes. "Bakura!"

Bakura shrugged, sighing. "It's bound to happen."

"Don't say such things," Ryou replied, shaking his head sadly. "It frightens me to think of it."

Bakura rolled his eyes at his overly sensitive hikari. "At least I can guarantee two things. One," he said, grabbing Ryou's wrist firmly. "You won't be the next." He pulled Ryou along gently, determined to keep his precious hikari safely locked in his room.

Ryou smiled slightly at his yami's over protectiveness. "And what's two?"

Bakura glanced back at the albino with a fanged grin. "The next one will be the first to realize we did not lock up all the weapons available."

Ryou blinked in bafflement, not comprehending what Bakura meant. They had scoured the entire house and found every weapon possible. Well, except Kaiba's gun. What could Bakura be talking about…

* * *

Yugi sat perched on the massive pile of firewood behind the house. Kaiba was nowhere in sight, having chased after Malik when the Egyptian attempted to capture a zippy lizard.

The small teen sighed despondently. No more tears fell from his violet eyes; he had suffered too much grief to be capable of crying any longer. He had lost some of his best friends in a matter of days, and, apparently, by no accident at they died. To say he was numb to everything was quite the understatement. He couldn't even view his beloved Yami as he was used to. When he looked at the slightly taller ex-Pharaoh, he felt the usual affection and endearment, but now it was tinged with a faint suspicion. How could he be absolutely _certain_ that Yami was not responsible for the murders? Was Yami viewing him the same way, with caution and uncertainty? And if he lost Yami? What would he do then? He would hate himself forever, suspecting his dark only to find him innocent and gone for all eternity. That thought made him feel completely and utterly alone.

…_like Toushi Ujio felt the night he called you and you ignored him?_ A tiny voice spoke in Yugi's mind. Closing his eyes, Yugi shook his head. No! It wasn't his fault Toushi had died! How was he supposed to know Toushi would kill himself after losing that duel to him? It wasn't his fault that Toushi felt depressed, his dreams had been utterly crushed when the final move had been delivered in that duel. It may not have been Yugi's fault that Toushi became suicidal, but the hikari couldn't help but feel responsible for not comforting Toushi the night he had called, ranting about jumping off the top floor on the school. Yugi had laughed it off as a joke. Toushi was obviously teasing him. But the next morning upon arriving at school, Yugi learned that Toushi indeed had not been joking. He had jumped and met his death on the heartless concrete below.

Yugi sobbed tearlessly, hugging his knees to his chest. It had been his fault. In a way, he was Toushi's murderer. He was a killer! If not for his lack of caring, Toushi would still be alive today. From that day on, Yugi devoted his life to being as caring and friendly as was humanly possible.

_But you're still a killer_ that little, persistent voice spoke. It was the last thing he ever thought as he turned at the sound of gravel crunching under footsteps. The last thing he felt was regret as the ax wedged itself firmly into his head.

* * *

Six Guests Remaining

* * *

KT: Sorry, I know I ended that chapter on a weird spot, but I wanted to update this chapter today and I ran out of inspiration…(glares at Seto)

Seto: Don't blame me, I never asked to be your muse…


	6. No Birds, Just Bees

_Twelve Little Duelists_

Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own it.

**Author's Note: **Koneko Tsuki hath returned! I finally got a new computer after months without one! Now I can continue on with my fics and my beloved readers can stop screaming for more chapters or my blood…. It was beginning to scare me…. (Gives you all cookies just for bothering to read the Author's Note) I luff you all!

"Speech"

---------------------- Changing character stand point

-------------------------------------------- Change in time or place

Warning: Heh, heh, more character death! Fear the abused power of the authoress!

_Note: _A reviewer has begged me not to harm Yami in a few reviews…Well, sorry to say this…I have to! Everyone dies eventually in this fic! Even my beloved Seto (poor Mokuba!) Gomen nasai, but that's the downside of reading murder fics.

TCD0012: You're one hell of a detective and I've had to work extra hard in an attempt to stump you and it's making my poor little brain hurt. Keep up the great observation skills!

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Chapter 6: No Birds, Just Bees

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Dark eyes watched in amusement as the ax completed its journey, half of its blade buried in Yugi's skull; the little hikari's violet eyes remained open but unseeing in death, clear tears staining his pale cheeks. Malik giggled quietly as he darted away like a demented shadow.

Still laughing, Malik talked softly to himself in a singsong voice, "Tsk, tsk, Killing is a baaaaaad thing." He paused thoughtfully, lavender eyes staring at the sky. "But… blood is pretty. And pretty is good… So, killing is good!" Clapping cheerfully, the Egyptian hurried his step, determined to find Seto, wherever he had wandered off to…

--------------------------------------------

Tea returned to the kitchen and Yami with a pile of wood in her arms for the stove. She smiled sweetly at the anxious pharaoh, attempting to cheer him up until Yugi returned with Kaiba and Malik. "Don't worry, he'll be fine, Yami. He can take care of himself, plus, he's with Kaiba, who's probably the strongest person here right now."

As if summoned by Tea's words, Seto walked into the kitchen, Malik in tow. The CEO looked none too happy about the little hikari's over-clinginess, but Malik was all smiles as he gnawed on a wooden spoon from Heaven-knows-where. Tea and Yami looked up from preparing the stove for cooking a large pot of ramen. Yami's crimson eyes narrowed suspiciously at Seto.

"Where's Yugi?" The ex-pharaoh demanded.

Seto halted short in surprise, glancing behind him at Malik and the empty spot Yugi had occupied moments ago. It came back to him suddenly, Yugi had wanted to sit and think for a few minutes, and so they had left him behind at the wood shack. Seto took a deep breath before speaking, knowing he had to word his next statement right lest he evoke the already insanely dangerous wrath of Yami. "He wanted to be alone with his thoughts, so we-"

"Left him, left him!" Malik chimed in gleefully.

"You're not helping," Seto growled at the boy before returning his gaze to Yami. "We went on without him, only because he swore to catch up to us soon." Seto stopped. He had been severely tempted to answer in his usual sarcastic tone 'We did the killer a favor and dropped him off a cliff', but Yami's hand was uncomfortably close to the pot on the stove and surely someone as insane as the pharaoh was capable of killing with metal kitchenware.

Without a word, Yami stormed past Seto and Malik, shoving the swinging door open viciously, letting it swing back toward the kitchen. He came to a stop just outside the kitchen as he realized that he had no clue where to begin looking for Yugi. Turning quickly to Seto, he growled out, "Where is he!"

"Swinging door…" Seto replied quietly.

Yami blinked in confusion as the kitchen door swung back at him in supposed vengeance, knocking him backwards and onto the dining room table. Tea raced hurriedly to his aide, Seto and Malik following slowly, chuckling to themselves. Bakura entered the room at that moment, tailed by Ryou. The two white-haired boys blinked in confusion at the scene before their chocolate eyes.

"Yami! Are you okay?" Tea asked worriedly, dancing anxiously from side to side.

Yami didn't answer as he stared in horror at the shattered Dark Magician figurine beside his own statuette. A strangled gasp came from Tea as her azure eyes fell on the broken pieces.

Seto silently begged any deity listening that Yami had broken the piece when he was thrown on the table; he really did not need another murder pinned on him, especially if the murdered was Yugi.

Bakura smirked maliciously. So, the pharaoh's beloved little pet had discovered the weapon they never locked up.

Ryou shook silently with grief, knowing all too well that the figurines were only broken once their owner was murdered.

Malik chirped joyously. "Seven little duelists chopping up sticks; one chopped himself in halves and then there were six."

Realization dawned on those who didn't know of the last weapon. They had left a perfectly lethal ax lying in easy reach of anyone! Yami was the first on his feet as he raced past them all, through the open front door and outside to the wood shack. The others followed, except for Ryou. The white-haired hikari remained behind as he gazed solemnly at the pieces of what once was Yugi's figurine. There had been twelve so recently. Now all that remained were Yami's Magician of Black Chaos, Kaiba's Blue Eyes White Dragon, Malik's Winged Dragon of Ra, Tea's Magician of Faith, Bakura's Man-eater Bug and his own Change of Heart statue. Which one would lay shattered next…?

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"Told you, told you!" Malik sang, dancing about. They had reached the wood shack and discovered Yugi's still warm body.

Yami collapsed to his knees, shaking with rage and sorrow. Yugi had reassured him that he would return in perfect health, and now he lay abandoned by his killer in the dirt. What had you been crying about Yugi? Who hurt you?

"Seven little duelists chopping up sticks; one chopped himself in halves and then there were six." Malik continued singing, energized by the crimson pool surrounding Yugi's prone form. "Seven little duelists chopping up sticks; one chopped himself in halves and then there were six."

Something in Yami snapped when he heard that morbid prophecy sung so happily. Pure hatred glazed his eyes as he stared at Malik, dancing around Seto. He uttered a vicious growl, lunging at Malik.

Hissing in surprise, Malik sought refuge behind Seto, leaving the CEO directly in Yami's path. With cat-like reflexes, Seto grabbed the back of Yami's shirt, holding the shorter pharaoh at bay.

"Unhand me, you incompetent priest!" Yami ordered in a royal tone, startling Seto into obeying and releasing him. Crimson eyes darted over the landscape. "Where is he? Where is Malik?"

The Egyptian was nowhere in sight, obviously high-tailing it while Yami had been distracted.

"Just let him go," Seto said, in no mood to play peacemaker between Yami and Malik.

Yami shot Seto a warning glare. "That little monster knows something and I'm going to find out what it is."

Tea nodded. "That's true; he did seem to act as if he knew something important. We have to find him."

Bakura's eyes glinted darkly as he headed off in search of Ryou and Malik. "If he touches one hair on Hikari's head, I'll kill him before the murderer gets a chance to."

Without a backward glance at Yami or Tea, Seto headed toward the beach, determined to find the Egyptian before either of the yamis could.

The two remaining duelists split up, promising to meet back at the dining room in half an hour.

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Ryou sat hunched over in a chair in the dining room, staring listlessly at his figurine. What if he was next? He did deserve it though, after what he did to Katsumoto Taka.

Taka had been down on his luck and chose to blackmail Ryou's family into paying him large sums of money. Ryou, not wanting to alert or worry his parents, had agreed to pay Taka. The hikari shook his head sadly. Yes, he had paid Taka, and yes, he had muttered rather loudly while passing a group of ruffians that Taka was carrying a large sum of money. But, how was he supposed truly know they would go after Taka? Sure, he had secretly hoped they would "rough him up" per say, but he had never dreamed they would throw him in the path of a speeding car when they were through with him! How could Unknown have found out about that at all? He had only told a few close friends. It had been all over the newspapers, but in no way had Ryou been connected with it; it was assumed to be a simple mugging turned severely violent.

Nonetheless, he was still to blame for Taka's murder, even if he was not the one who directly committed the crime.

A faint buzzing came from the other end of the table. Trapped beneath a clear glass bowl was a tiny yellow and black bee, violently striking its cage in an attempt at freedom. Gazing at the insect with glossy eyes, Ryou recited monotonously, "Six little duelists playing with a hive; a bumblebee stung one and then there were five." He felt the sting in the left side of his neck as he finished the fateful line. Lifting his hand slowly, he knocked the Change of Heart figurine off the table.

A cold, dark chuckle came from the figure standing behind the pale-as-death hikari. "Yes, and then there were five…"

Five Guests Remaining

KT: Uwaa! Poor Ryou-kun! This fic is starting to take its toll on me now that I have to kill off some of my favorite characters.

Seto: You should have picked ones you hated…

KT: It wouldn't have been a challenge then! Anywho… Review, so I can put up the next chapter and the next character can get slain! Muahaha!

Seto: A little sadistic, aren't we?


	7. Extinguishing the Light

_Twelve Little Duelists_

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

**Author's Note: **The story is quickly drawing to a close and those that have read _And Then There Were None _by Agatha Christie are already figuring it out. But don't forget, I've read the story too, and I'm writing this one; I can quite easily change how things turn out, I've already some twists in it that weren't in the original story. Don't get too arrogant, my loves.

"Speech"

---------------------- Changing character stand point

-------------------------------------------- Change in time or place

Warning: Character death still in effect, of course.

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Chapter 7: Extinguishing the Light

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Yami entered the dining room from the front hall at the same moment that Tea appeared through the door to the den. Both pairs of eyes fell on Ryou's slumped form seated in one of the gold and white chairs. At his feet lay his figurine, nothing more than a pile of jagged ceramic pieces and white dust.

"Oh, no," Tea moaned, her eyes widening to the size of dinner plates, "not Ryou." She shook her head in disbelief, causing trendils of brown hair to fall over her face unhindered. One hand came up to cover her mouth, silencing herself from making anymore sob-filled words.

Yami steeled himself as he stepped heavily toward the silent Hikari. With a shaking hand, he pulled Ryou's shoulders back, allowing him to lean back into the chair. The typically pale face was stark white, matching his snowy hair almost perfectly. His eyes were closed as if simply sleeping. Yami shook his head slowly in an attempt to banish the still fresh memories of discovering Yugi's body. His precious little Light had appeared so terrified and sorrowful, eyes wide and unseeing. Why did Ryou have to look so damnably peaceful and content? It wasn't fair!

As Yami dropped his eyes from Ryou's colorless face, he caught a glimpse of crimson on the boy's colorless throat. Brow creased, he bent to inspect the spot on Ryou's neck. It was a tiny drop of blood, so beautifully brilliant against such flawlessly white flesh. Tea, noticing what had caught Yami's eyes, gasped as she recognized the tiny injury.

"A needle," she whispered, her voice deafening in the silence. She shuddered despite the warm temperatures as sudden images of the other deaths flooded her mind. The murders could have been accidental up until Serenity's vicious death. Now the murderer was becoming insanely violent; he seemed to delight in making it obvious that the deaths were premeditated. With a pang guilt, she found herself becoming grateful that Ryou hadn't suffered a gory death like Serenity and Yugi.

A gleeful giggle brought both out of their dark thoughts. They immediately recognized the unbalanced laugh as Malik's. Looking toward the way Yami had entered, they found the last remaining Hikari.

Malik seemed completely content as he clung to Seto, nuzzling the disgruntled CEO like an affectionate cat despite Seto's attempts to unlatch him. "Six little duelists playing with a hive; a bumblebee stung one and then there were five," the Egyptian sang, delighting in the sinister lines of the poem.

Yami shot Malik a foreboding glare, causing the Hikari to hide behind Seto in fright. Feeling perfectly safe with Seto between himself and Yami, Malik stuck his tongue out at the pharaoh, blowing a raspberry.

"Are you going to sink to his level, pharaoh? It'd be quite amusing to see you doing such childishly immature acts," Bakura drawled as he appeared behind Seto and Malik. The darkly amused smirk on his face vanished instantly when he saw Ryou's body. What little color he had in his face drained completely, giving him the same deathly appearance as Ryou. Sharp chocolate eyes grew wide for a split second before narrowing so severely they appeared almost closed. "Hikari…" No, not his Hikari, he'd done too much to keep the timid one safe.

As Bakura stepped dazedly toward Ryou, the others moved swiftly out of his path; Bakura was unstable enough, they weren't about to drive him over the edge by getting between him and his recently murdered Light. The thief shook with suppressed grief and rage; fists clenching and unclenching as he reached Ryou's side. How had he not sensed Ryou's distress or detatchment? Without a sound, he lifted Ryou's form into his arms, cradling the small Hikari. He turned on his heel, trudging toward the exit of the dining room, finding himself partially blocked by Seto and Malik as they stood beside the door. Growling in warning, Bakura was numbly aware that Seto hastily moved out of his path, dragging Malik back by his shirt collar. It was the first time he'd ever seen the usually prideful and arrogant CEO appear nervous; yet, the thief didn't have the will to create a snide remark. Insults were useless now that he didn't have a Hikari to fluster with embarrassment; he'd only bothered to shoot cold insults at Ryou's friends because he loved to see the timid albino dance about anxiously, apologizing profusely, snowy cheeks tinted pink.

Those thoughts occupied his mind as he climbed the stairs solemnly, entering his dark room without a need to flip the light switch as his thief's eyes adjusted instantaneously. Laying Ryou down gently on the bed, Bakura slumped to the floor. Spiky white hair fell into his eyes as he sat staring in denial at his Light's body. He refused to believe Ryou was dead; he was just sleeping. Sleeping peacefully, like he always did every night; completely unaware of Bakura sitting up and simply watching him. Now was no different; there was no proof Ryou was dead.

No proof, except for the lack of Ryou's chest rising and falling slowly with each breath. And there was no response whatsoever mentally or physically when Bakura berated his Hikari in usual fashion. If Ryou were still alive and attempting to worry Bakura, he would have flinched at the harsh tone and insults. But there was nothing. Absolutely nothing but complete and utter darkness. Having no choice but to accept the unwanted, lest he become as cracked as Malik, Bakura pulled the white sheet over Ryou's face. He grimaced when he saw the sheet, as perfectly white and clean as it was, seemed to taint Ryou's immaculately pure face with its poor imitation white.

As Bakura left the room with plans never to return to it, he glimpsed Ryou's journal lying open to the most recent entry, only half finished. Katsumoto Taka was the last thing written in Ryou's delicate, polite penmanship. The name meant nothing to Bakura and, in an attempt to respect the privacy he'd never really granted Ryou before, the thief quietly closes the leatherbound book and placed it beside his immobile Hikari.

--------------------------------------------

"Yami, can I talk to you?" Tea asked of the pharaoh as he sat staring sullenly at the sea. He had just removed Yugi's body from where the murderer had left him in the dirt; thinking along the same lines as Bakura, Yami had left Yugi on his bed. The small teen would have looked as if he were sleeping, if it wasn't for the massive wound in his head. Kaiba had been generous enough--or perhaps it was to spare all, including himself, nausea--to remove the axe for Yami. Without consulting the other's, Seto had chosen to dispose of the weapon by dropping it off one of the cliffs into the roaring sea. Yami had been mulling over such thoughts when Tea's words snapped him to alertness.

"Hmm? Yes?" he asked, still slightly dazed. Crimson eyes met with distressed cerulean ones as he gazed up at Tea. "Sorry, what did you want Tea?"

Tea smiled softly in an attempt to bring a little warmth back into Yami's mood. "I just wanted to see if you were ok." She grimaced at her own words, quickly continuing to explain her meaning. "I was only wondering if there was anything you needed." Because obviously you're not okay, she finished in her head.

Yami gave Tea a small smile in thanks as he shook his head. "No, I'd just like some time to think. But thank you, Tea." He was grateful when Tea chose to sit beside him, rather than leave. He wouldn't have asked for it, but he wanted nothing more than company as he grieved silently for his lost Light.

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Seto paced the sitting room thoughtfully. Occasionally, with a feeling of regret, his icy blue eyes glanced at the large white sheet nailed to the two walls to cover the large blood stain left at the scene of Serenity's death; with his immense willpower, he forced his mind to stop trailing off and focus on the task at hand. The pieces to this murder lay in front of him, but he couldn't put the puzzle together, there were too many missing pieces. He had to solve this if he wanted to get the blame and suspicion off him. His pacing increased with his frustration as he continuously ran his hand through his hair, making uncharacteristically disheveled.

Malik watched Seto's pacing with fascinated lavender eyes. His mind kept superimposing over the CEO the image of a luxurious snow leopard, walking back and forth as it contemplated a way out of an invisible cage. Taken by the sudden urge to stop Seto's irritation, Malik leapt from the chair he'd been curled up in enjoying a candy bar, and trotted over to the tall teen, planting himself firmly in Seto's path. When Seto was forced to halt by Malik's motionless stance, he blinked in surprise, slowly bringing himself out of his thoughts.

'Move," Seto ordered, arms crossed in his typical attitude. He was in no mood for Malik's psychotic games, not when he had a mystery to solve before someone else was killed.

Malik grinned in response, shaking his head quickly. "Not 'til Seto tells Malik what's wrong."

Seto's frown increased at the use of his first name, but he brushed it off as he knew there was no changing an insane person's mind. "What's wrong?" he asked, sarcasm coating his venomous words, "Oh, nothing's wrong. Everyone is just being murdered by a psychopath."

The only answer he got from Malik was a devious giggle as the Egyptian skipped back to his chair upon seeing Tea and Yami enter the room. Yami glanced accusingly at Seto but, to his surprise, didn't meet the usual hostile pair of blue eyes. Seto refused to meet Yami's gaze, knowing the pharaoh blamed him for Yugi's death, whether he was the killer or not. Tea, seeing Yami's look and Seto's lack-there-of, gestured silently with a jerk of her head for Yami to sit down and leave Kaiba alone. Resigning to obey, Yami sank into the velvet couch beside Tea, both being sure to keep their gaze off the sheet that disguised Serenity's bloodstains.

But Malik, with overly powerful curiosity, had to see what the others did not. Glancing over his shoulder to be sure Seto was occupied with staring out the window at nothing, Malik slid from his chair and crept furtively to the sheet. He was about to lift the corner to reveal what he thought was treasure, when a harsh voice growled in an authoritarian tone, "Drop it, you little savage."

The four occupants of the room turned to see Bakura standing in the doorway, dark eyes locked on Malik. The remaining Hikari squeaked in fright, darting behind Seto. Without another word to any of them, Bakura slumped into the nearest armchair, spiky white hair falling over his eyes. Each of them, even Malik, fell into their own thoughts, forgetting the others existed as best they could. Each one knew one of them was a killer, and their minds worked incessantly in an attempt to discover who.

Silence reigned for a great length of time that none bothered to measure or even acknowledge, still buried in their thoughts as they were. Bakura's thoughts were on his past and Ryou's as he tried to find a solution as to why his perfectly innocent Hikari had been brought here. Yami mulled over each murder, even Yugi's with immense sorrow, as he tried to find a clue covered by the blood. Seto's mind dwelled on his little brother as he wondered if he'd ever see Mokuba again--even Seto Kaiba's legendary determination and will was running low in this hellhole. Malik thought of his Yami, wondering if he was going to be waking up any time soon so that they could go back home to Ishizu and Odion.

Tea's thoughts were not on lost friends or possible killers; she sat observing the others in the room and seeing a certain animal-like tension in air. Yami looked very much like a magnificent, if crestfallen, lion seated so habitually regal beside her, his slanted red eyes dark as he concentrated on his thoughts. Tea got a certain feline feel from Seto as he glared out the window; if he had a tail, she had the feeling it'd be lashing irritably like any cat's would be during a dangerous situation. Malik had the look of a far too mischievous kitten as he sat on the windowsill beside Seto with a faroff, musing look on his face. Bakura, sitting so far into the chair, carried the obvious air of a hungry wolf, narrow eyes watching everything and deeming each as a potential enemy or threat. We're a zoo, she thought with a tinge of sardonic amusement, I wonder what animal I look like...

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Having had quite enough of sitting around and needing a few minutes away from such brooding boys, Tea stood up and stretched. With a yawn, she headed toward the doors. She could feel four pairsof eyes on her back and, looking over her shoulder, she smiled slightly at them. They knew exactly was she was thinking as she left the room. If one of them followed and she turned up missing or dead, they'd be pinpointed as the killer. Not one of them so much as twitched as they shot suspicious glares at each other--excluding Malik, who sat humming a tune as he poked at the windowpanes. And he was the only one not on his feet immediately when Tea's terrified scream came from somewhere in the house. Glancing at the others, all three hurried out of the room, Seto stopping just long enough to order Malik to stay where he was. Outside the door, the three unconsciously split up, having heard Tea's scream from different directions in the massive house. When they realized the others weren't with them, it was too late to backtrack and find each other; they just continued on with their hurried search of the girl.

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With a pouty expression, Malik obeyed Seto's order and sank into his chair with his arms crossed over his chest. Having finally grown bored of reciting the Duelist poem, he began to go over what that creepy voice had told them when they arrived however long ago. What was it that voice had said about him? Ah, that's right, Lilia Hishinzo. He'd ran over her during one of his highspeed escapes after a museum robbery. Nope, wasn't his fault Lilia had ran in front of his motorcycle. Odion had said young children shouldn't be out so late anyway. Besides, it's not like he'd hit her with a car. Just a small motorcycle. Can't be blamed for something the Gods wanted. Why else would a little girl be outside at night unless it was specifically to be killed by Malik. Simply fulfilling the Gods' wishes, he was.

He was reminded of his motorcycle backfiring when the gun fired. But no more memories came after that.

----------------------

It was Seto who found Tea curled up in a corner of the dining room, shaking violently. Her wide blue eyes stared at, not one but two, shattered figurines on the floor. Taking stock of the other statuettes still intact, Seto realized that one belonged to Tea while the other was Malik's.

"I'm going to die next," Tea gibbered, still shaking. She stared up at Seto in horror. "You're going to kill me, aren't you?"

"I'm not the killer!" Seto growled, taking a step away from Tea to prove he was not planning on killing her.

Still terrified and hysterical, Tea screamed, startling Seto into stepping farther away. Yami and Bakura burst in from separate doors at the same time, just seconds after Tea's scream. Both spirits' eyes locked Seto, who tried to appear as innocent as possible. Glancing at each other, Yami and Bakura charged forward, each grabbing one of Seto's arms and pinning him to the wall.

"Unhand me!" Seto commanded, struggling against the two. His superior height was of little use with their combined power holding him in place. "You have no right to do this! I did nothing!"

"If you did nothing, then why did Tea scream?" Yami demanded, glancing at the girl to make sure she was unharmed.

Tea shook her head, signaling for the two to release Seto, which they were reluctant to do. "He didn't do anything. I screamed because I was scared, and...and, because I had just noticed who the other figure belonged to..."

Four Guests Remaining

KT: Damn, I just killed off my comic relief.

Seto:Smart move.

KT: Now the story is just going to get dark and depressing with the little psycho to brighten it up.

Seto: Probable cause to stop writing this?

KT: Not by a long shot, Tea still lives.

Seto: Great...


	8. Making the Island a Man's World

_Twelve Little Duelists_

Disclaimer: I don't own anything (including the Energizer Bunny).

**Author's Note: **We're now at the eigth chapter out of thirteen. All questions shall be revealed soon enough.

"Speech"

---------------------- Changing character stand point

-------------------------------------------- Change in time or place

Warning: Character death still in effect, of course.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 8: Making the Island a Man's World

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Seto was the first to reach the den, the other three only a few steps behind. The sight that greeted their eyes was not a pleasant one. Malik lay sprawled across the plush rug now dyed crimson where it had been brown and white. The Hikari's platinum blonde hair cascaded into his still face, mingling with the thick trial of blood that oozed from the wound just above his left ear. He painted the picture of a slain angel with the golden jewelery glittering mournfully in the artificial light, white feathers scattered about him haphazardly, some tinted with splotches of blood. Still gripped tightly in his hands were Tea's pink cellphone and the wooden spoon Seto had given him earlier in an attempt at momentary silence. Now that silence was permanent. No more insane giggles. No recitations of the morbid poem. Utter silence.

"He was the last Hikari left," Bakura muttered, eyes narrowed and glossy as his mind went to his bedroom where Ryou lay in eternal sleep.

Yami tore his crimson eyes away from the murdered Light, his mind also going to images of his Hikari. His gaze fell upon a serenely white pillow left abandoned on the floor. He would have thought nothing of it, if not for that massive hole through the center, where most of its feathery stuffing had escaped to surround Malik.

Seto spotted the pillow as Yami stooped to pick it up, a baffled expression on the pharaoh's face. "That explains why we couldn't hear the gunshot." Seto turned his attention back to Malik, surprising himself by having a feeling of remorse. As obnoxious as the Egyptian was, he had begun to grow on Seto. Malik had reminded him a bit of Mokuba when the boy was on a sugar hype. He also felt, with a stab of guilt and further surprise, relief.

Relief that he would no longer have to put so much effort forth in looking after Malik. Relief that the suspect was one step closer to being caught. And relief that Malik had not suffered in his death, like most of the others had.

"So it's one of us," Tea whispered as she looked at each of the three boys. "One of us has been killing everyone..."

"It's Kaiba!" Yami and Bakura accused in unison.

Seto's icy blue eyes narrowed to near slits as he glared at the pair of yami. "I'm getting fed up with these unfounded accusations. You're basing everything off suspicion and nothing upon fact." Turning his back to them, he strode towards the dining room, halting long enough to add over his shoulder, "You'll only be able to accuse me of actual murder after you've wrongfully accused me again." And with that threat, he was gone. The slamming of the dining room door the only evidence that he was even present in the house.

"Maybe we should take some time alone for a little bit," Tea suggested as fresh tears began to well up into her eyes.

Yami and Bakura exchanged glances, eyebrows raised in inquiry to each other. Splitting up wasn't remotely intelligent to do, but it was obvious each of them needed at least a few moments of solitude to gather their thoughts. Yami nodded as he spoke, "All right, but only a short amount of time. In thirty minutes, we will return to the dining room." With that, the three trudged up the staircase, separating as they reached the hallway and entered their rooms. Bakura didn't look back once at them, focused solely on the much desired isolation of his room.

Before entering his own room, Yami look at Tea, taking in her rumpled clothes and worn, tear-stained face. He smiled reassuringly, giving her as much warmth as he was capable of. Silently, he told her that everything would be okay in the end.

Grateful for Yami's kindness, Tea forced herself to smile back as she lifted her hand in a weak thumbs-up.

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They all heard it. How could they not when it echoed so loudly throughout the massive house?

Seto heard it from his resting spot against the dining room wall, where he'd sat for the past twenty minutes absently stroking the smooth forehead of the Blue Eyes figurine. It had startled him into a standing position, shaking him out of his thoughts.

Bakura heard it from where he sat beside Ryou, continuously brushing strands of snow-white hair from his hikari's pale face. He had leapt to his feet like a cat who'd sat upon hot coals.

Yami heard it, loudest of all. It had come from the room next to his, after all. And there was no mistaking that high-pitched scream of sheer terror.

Tea.

Yami was the first out his door, crossing his room in considerable strides that most twice his height never attempted. He was opening Tea's door when Bakura collided into his back. The thief hissed in pain, hand going to where his nose had been jabbed by one of the points on Yami's imfamous hair. Seto appeared at their sides mere seconds later, arriving in time to behold what the other two had discovered.

There, slumped over her bed as if she'd fallen asleep while praying to some invisible deity, was Tea. Blood was everywhere. Dripping from the mantlepiece, oozing down the walls, puddling on the bedsheets, flowing into a red pool around her legs. Her slender neck, once flawless, now bore a long open gash where blood no longer seeped as it had drained itself swiftly through the new hole.

Seto was the first to speak as he continued to gaze about the room with the same critical eye as a forensic detective. "How did she have time to scream and still lose so much in a matter of seconds..?"

"How can you think about technicalities when Tea's _dead_!" Yami demanded, utterly bewildered. "Don't you have any remorse for those taken from us?"

Seto looked sidelong at the irate Pharaoh, his expression deadpan. "No, sorry, but I've used up what grief I was alloted a long time ago."

As the rivals glared silently at each other, both challenging the other to back down, Bakura uttered a sound of confusion. With that, the soundless battle between CEO and Pharaoh was ended as they turned to see what had baffled Bakura.

The thief smirked, relishing the attention the two gave him. He was silent a moment, only to make them twitch with impatient, before clearing his throat. "The poem says, 'Four little duelists going out to sea/A red herring swallowed one and there were three.' But this death has nothing to do with fish." He paused a moment, glancing around the room again. "Although, it's certainly red enough."

"A redding herring is something that draws attention away from the central issue," Seto scoffed.

Yami frowned at the definition. "That doesn't make sense. How does this murder draw our attention away from the issue that one of us is a murderer?"

"The killer could just be getting lazy and not following along with the lyrics." Seto shrugged, dismissing the poem as pure idiocy. "Seriously. Think about it. The next line is 'Three little duelists walking in a zoo/A big bear hugged one and then there were two.' There isn't a zoo on this island, and certainly no bears."

"Either the killer lacks imagination or has way too much of it," Bakura stated in a tone suggesting he was conversing with himself. "If it's a lack of imagination, then Kaiba'd definitely fit that profile. The guy probably sends e-mails to that battery company ordering they change their mascot because pink bunnies with drums are completely illogical." He sneered at Seto as the CEO clenched his fists with surpressed rage. "And if it was too much imagination, the number suspect would have been our newest victim. It doesn't get any more outlandish than complete unity and friendship among everyone." As Seto took a menacing step towards him, the thief grinned and held his hands up disarmingly. "It could have been any of us," he stated, adding as an after-thought, "I still think it's Kaiba though..."

Yami nodded. "Yes, we still can't completely accuse anyone. As far as either of you know, I could have done this by climbing from my window into Tea's room, and back." He turned to Bakura. "You could have left your room and picked the lock on her door and done it yourself or," he fixed his crimson eyes on Seto, "you could have just as easily snuck upstairs earlier and been in your room, waiting for us to split up. Any one of us could have done it, and until we have proof of who did it-"

"We _all_ remain suspects," Seto finished.

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KT: Nyahaha.

Seto: You're laughing? You've cried at the end of most of the other chapters…

KT: In case you didn't notice, Musey-me-love, I hate Tea with a passion.

Seto: Ah, so this was a good chapter for you?

KT: Very much so. It may just cheer me up when I have to kill you in one of the upcoming chapters…

Seto: ……I was hoping you'd forget about that…

KT: Nope, sorry.


End file.
